Wasteland Hideout: Upgrading from the Sewers

Chapter 37: Craftsman - Marcel

Entering the sewer, Yu Yuan de-equipped Mie Mie and then mounted it, running through the damp sewer system. Mie Mie's back was broader and more stable than Yu Yuan had imagined, with almost no noticeable jolting.

Canchino Street.

This wasn't Yu Yuan's first time coming here, but this time he wasn't going to the Teardrop Mole Woman's house—his target was No. 7 Canchino Street.

Due to his chest rig armor and equipment, Yu Yuan had some difficulty squeezing out of the sewer, but it wasn't a major problem.

Canchino Street had been ravaged by the typhoon, becoming a complete mess with bent trees everywhere, destroyed houses, and leaves and weeds covering the ground.

But this had indirectly cleared out the hidden threats in the area.

Since it was still daytime, Yu Yuan didn't plan to linger in the middle of the road. Instead, he quickly ducked into an abandoned house nearby and went up to the second floor.

Diagonally across from him was the residence at No. 7 Canchino Street. Unlike other obviously abandoned homes, this residence, while appearing inconspicuous and even somewhat dilapidated...

If you looked closely, you'd realize that was just superficial. The main structure of the room was actually completely fine—the so-called dilapidation was only at the edges of the corners and eaves.

These damages wouldn't affect the house at all; instead, they had a camouflaging and misleading effect."Artisan Masier..." Yu Yuan looked at the residence across the street, recalling the intelligence information in his mind.

"The newspaper appeared on the third day, mentioning he would leave the residence today to search for supplies. The typhoon just left today, so the best exploration time to leave the residence should be tonight."

After organizing his thoughts and running through possible scenarios in his mind,

Yu Yuan waited patiently. He wouldn't make any moves before seeing Masier.

The sky after the typhoon's departure remained gray. By only 7 PM, darkness had already begun to fall. Yu Yuan, who had been continuously observing the opposite side, suddenly pressed his head against the window corner.

He saw the door of No. 7 Canchino Street open, a vague dark figure peeking outside, then leaving the house and moving away into the distance under cover of night.

Just as the other person left the house, Yu Yuan also left the abandoned building he was in. As soon as the other person moved beyond the residential wall perimeter, he called out softly:

"Is that Masier? I'm a friend of Fedemon's..."

The moment his voice emerged, the figure reacted as if triggered, rolling to the side. In the blink of an eye, the person was already hiding behind a utility pole.

A dark gun barrel extended from behind the pole, pointing toward Yu Yuan's position.

Yu Yuan had anticipated this reaction and was already hidden behind a wall, not exposing even half his form. He called out softly again: "Masier, don't shoot, I'm Fedemon's friend..."

Before he could finish his words,

Bang...

A bullet struck the wall, but the gunshot wasn't sharp—it was actually a weapon equipped with a silencer.

Then a clear but cold voice came through.

"Who are you really? Fedemon doesn't have friends. How do you know about me and my relationship with him..."

Masier was actually a woman?

Yu Yuan was slightly stunned, then quickly remembered when Biao Ge's trio were talking outside Wutong Apartments—besides the teardrop mole woman named Mona, they had indeed mentioned another woman. Could it be her?

Bang...

The muffled gunshot sounded again, interrupting Yu Yuan's recollection and making him frown slightly.

This woman had quite a fiery temper!

But this woman held the key to his survival, so he could only explain immediately:

"Stop shooting, don't attract enemies. Fedemon is already dead, along with his child. Only his wife survived—I saved her."

"What?" Masier exclaimed.

"Explain clearly what happened?" Her voice was clearly urgent.

Yu Yuan immediately summarized the key points of what happened at No. 68 Canchino Street.

When she heard that Yu Yuan had killed the scavengers and saved the teardrop mole woman, although she still maintained some wariness toward Yu Yuan, it was much better than before.

Yu Yuan also noticed that in the Virtual Light Screen's [Combat] page, the [Persuasion] skill was emitting a faint glow.

"Then how did you know about me?"

"I saw a notebook in the room, that's how I learned about Fedemon's relationship with you, and that you're an artisan. He was responsible for delivering supplies..." As he said this, Yu Yuan felt extremely nervous inside—he was lying.

Otherwise, it would be really hard to explain how he knew the other person's information.

He could only hope the [Persuasion] skill would be effective enough.

And indeed, Masier didn't question it, instead asking the next question.

"Then what's your purpose in looking for me?"

Yu Yuan's eyes twitched slightly: "She believed it?"

But there was no time to think, so he immediately replied: "I think you have great potential. I want to invest in you?"

"Wh-what?" This time Masier seemed to have heard something completely unbelievable, her voice rising slightly.

But she quickly caught herself, immediately lowering her voice and urgently asking: "What did you just say? Invest in me? Invest in what?"

She didn't even notice that her gun barrel had long since unconsciously lowered, the alertness in her heart replaced by a mixture of shock, joy, and astonishment.

"I'm very interested in your artisan skills. I'll provide you with a batch of supplies—food, materials, living resources, whatever you need. In return, you just need to share with me when your research is complete."

"That's it?"

"Yes! It's that simple."

Yu Yuan could sense the shock and joy in her words. Clearly, his proposal appealed to Masier's interests, but he felt something was off.

What was off?

Yu Yuan quickly realized—it was too smooth!

Masier's behavior didn't seem like how someone living in the wasteland should act.

However, Yu Yuan didn't mind this. His goal wasn't really her so-called research anyway, but consuming supplies. As long as she accepted his investment and it could meet the elimination conditions for the [Luxury Card], that was enough.

And Masier indeed seemed to genuinely accept Yu Yuan's proposal. After quick negotiation, they agreed that Yu Yuan would deliver the supplies tomorrow night.

After everything was settled, Yu Yuan also took 3 packs of military rations from his backpack and placed them by the wall corner.

"These three packs of military rations are for you to use for now. Don't go out temporarily—the Black Shield Police Department and Thug Prison just had a fight, and there's risk of large-scale conflict at any time. The streets aren't safe. Just wait for me to deliver supplies tomorrow night!"

This woman had quite a hot temper!

"Alright, I understand!" Masier watched Yu Yuan's disappearing dark figure, the joy on her face instantly vanishing, replaced by unprecedented vigilance and seriousness.

She took out a phone and a drone the size of a fist from her pocket. Under her remote control, the drone immediately ascended and flew toward the position where Yu Yuan had been earlier...