Chapter 55: My Name Is Xia Jinse

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Bam!

Chen Xu’s left hand firmly grasped the gun. With the support of his robotic arm, he did not feel even the slightest recoil at his shoulders that was supporting the butt of the rifle.

At this moment, he didn’t pay any attention to that in entirety. His body became a little stiff in his terror.

He kept the position he had at the time he fired the rifle and gazed at the woman dressed in green who was lying on the floor. He felt that his entire back was drenched in sweat.

That was way too close.

Earlier on, if he hadn’t raised the muzzle that tiny little bit before he fired the shot, that woman would already have her head splattered off.

He wasn’t usually that reckless. But in such a dangerous environment, he became a little squeamish. Seeing the green figure, he had subconsciously thought of it as another green-skinned ape, almost leading to a tragedy.

Fortunately, the bullet flew by the woman’s head. She was merely terrified, and that’s why she fell to the ground.

Why was she wearing green of all colors?

Apart from being scared, he couldn’t help but complain. His eyes met the woman’s, and his heart pounded.

He could see no fear on her face. It was more like anger. Her eyes were sharp, radiating some kind of deterrence.

A strange feeling rippled through Chen Xu’s heart. His gut feelings were telling him that she was no simple woman.

“Are you alright?”

He finally remembered to put away the rifle as he asked while trying to sound gentle, “I thought you were a monster just now. That’s why I fired. I’m sorry. Did that scare you?”

As he talked, he extended his hand with the intention of pulling her up in an act of friendliness.

The woman didn’t grab his hand. She helped herself up by holding the wall and patted off the dirt on her skirt.

Seeing that she still dared to care about whether her clothes were dirty, he felt even more peculiar about the situation.

Think about it. A woman woke up and discovered that the city she was in had become a wasteland. Then, she bumped into a man that fired a gun at her. After cheating death, her first reaction was to pat her skirt clean?

In any way, this reaction didn’t seem normal.

Seeing that there was still a stain after patting the skirt a few times, she didn’t bother with it any longer. She looked up at Chen Xu, her vision clearly passing over the fancy-looking exoskeleton robotic arm. She asked, “What is this place?”

Chen Xu had his eyebrows slightly knitted. He didn’t like the way she spoke. It was casual, but with a strong domineering presence. He was very sensitive to this.

She could turn out to be a woman who was possibly more difficult than Luo Xiyun.

This was his first impression of her.

Luckily, she wasn’t someone who judged on appearance. Her real personality completely matched the brief, stunning glimpse he had of her in the morning.

For a moment, many thoughts went through his mind as he said, “I don’t know.”

Her eyes flickered slightly and asked, “Who are you?”

Chen Xu didn’t answer but questioned her back, “And who are you?”

The woman kept quiet for two seconds and said, “Xia Jinse.”

“Chen Xu.”

Chen Xu initially thought of shaking hands with her, but remembering that she would rather stand up herself than let him help her, he dispelled the idea and said, “We are probably experiencing the same thing – ridiculously appearing in this world.”

“How did you know that?” asked Xia Jinse.

“Your clothes. They do not match this place.” Chen Xu said, “I could tell based on my own experience.”

Xia Jinse looked at the rifle in his hands.

Chen Xu explained, “I scavenged all these. There’s a battlefield over there, but everyone is dead, unfortunately.”

“And that gunshot from just now, did you fire it?” she asked again.

“I bumped into a monster that looks like an ape with green skin. I shot it down. That’s why I subconsciously fired at you when you appeared. The color of your clothes is so similar.”

Chen Xu explained why he pulled the trigger and then asked, “What are your next plans?”

Xia Jinse’s delicate eyebrows frown deeply, saying slowly only after a while, “To survive.”

Chen Xu said, “If you don’t mind, let’s make a team. We can take care of each other with both of us together. Our chances of surviving in this dangerous world would also be higher.”

Xia Jinse kept silent for a moment and asked, “Can you take me to the scene of battle?”

Chen Xu knew that she didn’t trust him and wasn’t angry about it. It would seem abnormal if she were to agree to him straightaway. After all, they were strangers without any foundation of trust, and would, of course, need to have a high level of suspicion and vigilance to survive.

He looked up at the sky. It was still grey, the same as when he woke up. He couldn’t see any changes nor see the sun, so he was unable to tell the time.

Based on feeling, somewhere around an hour had probably passed since he woke up.

The two left the rooftop and went downstairs.

…

Xia Jinse was in front while Chen Xu followed behind. The two didn’t talk along the way.

Although Chen Xu almost peed his pants during his first encounter with the green-skinned ape, after killing it with a gun, his courage had marginally increased.

The green-skinned ape had an awful appearance but wasn’t as scary as he thought. It was a creature of blood and flesh, the same as him, that could be shot down by a handgun, let alone a rifle. Even if one got close to him, he still had his exoskeleton robotic arm which could easily allow him to smash it into pieces.

He just had to be careful to not get ambushed.

Hence, to win Xia Jinse’s trust, he decided to take a risk and make a trip back to the scene.

Arriving at the location, Chen Xu watched Xia Jinse carefully observe the entire battlefield. The corpses of humans, monsters, and even the scars on the wall left behind by shootings weren’t overlooked.

In all honesty, it wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of surveying this place, particularly the corpses of the few monsters. It was only because he was anxious to look for Xia Jinse that he had set aside this thought.

After more than ten minutes, Xia Jinse stood up beside the corpse of the last monster and said, “We need to take all that water away. We will not last long without clean drinking water.”

Chen Xu nodded, agreeing with her view. He previously observed for some time on the rooftop. This city’s destruction was arrant. Of every place he could perceive, he couldn’t see any water.

“It’s a pity that the transport vehicle was badly damaged,” Xia Jinse said with regret. Without a transporting tool, moving so much water wouldn’t be an easy job.

“Leave this to me.” Chen Xu flexed the exoskeleton robotic arm enwrapping his left arm. Then, he said, “I think we should stay at that building tonight. I’ve looked around. They have a few considerably intact rooms. We don’t have to worry about monsters ambushing us if we stay there.”

Xia Jinse nodded in agreement.

Subsequently, they returned to the building with a bucket of water, found themselves a room on the third floor, and had it cleaned up.

After working for a while, the two got hungry. Chen Xu opened a pack of compressed biscuits, gave her half of it, and ate while sitting.

Xia Jinse took the biscuit, had a bite, frowned, and said, “I agree to team up with you. However, you must promise me one thing.”