Among the three major organizations, the Burning Flame Company and the Gray Mountain Group were roughly equal in strength. Separated by a river, they ruled their respective territories—two poles of the wasteland world.
The Doomsday Floaters, however, were different.
They were not structured like a corporation, nor were they centralized.
Where Burning Flame and Gray Mountain were authoritarian—controlling bases, industries, armies, and strict hierarchies—the Floaters were loose, decentralized, almost like a wandering guild.
They had branches in many human base cities. Their relationship with the two corporations leaned more toward cooperation than direct competition.
The Floaters accepted only evolvers. No refugees, no strict rules.
Any evolver could apply for membership, receive an identification tag, and become a Wasteland Hunter.
In essence, they roamed the wasteland, hunting mutant beasts, scavenging ruins of the old era, and selling valuable finds to the Floaters in exchange for payment.
They could also purchase supplies through the organization.
In practice, the Floaters resembled a trading house. Occasionally, they also issued exploration commissions.
For many evolvers unwilling to surrender their freedom to the corporations, the Floaters were the only alternative.
"So you're a Wasteland Hunter with the Doomsday Floaters? And also an evolver?"
Inside the room, Lin Tuo asked after sorting out his thoughts.
The young girl, Huaxi, was chewing stubbornly on a tough strip of jerky, nodding while struggling to bite through it.
It wasn't surprising.
Because she was an evolver, naturally resistant to radiation, she retained a normal human appearance—free of mutations.
"And those people outside? Why are they chasing you?" Lin Tuo pressed.
Huaxi's face darkened with anger. "They're an exploration team raised by the Burning Flame Company. They want to steal my stuff!"
With food in her stomach, her spirits revived. She quickly recounted what had happened.
In short:
Some time ago, Huaxi stumbled upon a cache of old-era military weapons hidden in a cave while exploring the mountains. She couldn't carry them all, so she took a few samples to the nearest Floater branch—the so-called Hunter's Home—and sold them.
With the profits, she bought a large, expensive backpack, planning to return and haul more back.
But she hadn't realized she was being followed.
A Burning Flame squad tailed her into the mountains, attempting to seize her find. Cornered, she grabbed a portion of the weapons, wounded several pursuers, hijacked a vehicle, and fled.
"Those soldiers came to catch me," Huaxi said bitterly. "If I hadn't been injured, starving, and out of fuel, I'd have shaken them off long ago."
"I see…"
Lin Tuo's eyes flickered, though he couldn't be sure whether her story was entirely true. But it didn't matter much.
"So, you're the victim here."
"Of course I am!" Huaxi huffed.
Lin Tuo chuckled. He didn't argue. Still, he noted how this girl, though young, had escaped a company squad's encirclement alive. Clearly, she wasn't simple.
But then again—on the wasteland, anyone without strength, and without the protection of a great power, simply couldn't survive.
He sighed quietly at the thought.
"Since you're an evolver," he asked curiously, "do you also have an extraordinary ability? If so, what is it?"
The mention of supernatural power piqued his interest.
"I don't!" Huaxi's black-and-white eyes darted nervously as she denied it flatly. "I'm just a normal evolver. Not everyone who evolves gains special abilities."
"Heh…" Lin Tuo smirked, unconvinced. He was about to press further when he suddenly froze, turning sharply toward the window.
Huaxi stiffened as well, ears pricked.
From outside, the noise of a commotion was rushing closer. Lin Tuo peered through a crack, his expression hardening.
Soldiers—and the town's refugees—were approaching.
At their head was the officer from earlier.
Lin Tuo frowned. Weren't they supposed to be searching the town? How did they find us so quickly?
"They've tracked me, haven't they?" Huaxi said tensely. "That officer's got a dog's nose. As long as I'm nearby, he can smell me!"
A dog's nose?
So—an ability tied to heightened smell?
Lin Tuo filed the thought away. Now wasn't the time to ask.
On the street below, soldiers raised their rifles, aiming upward.
"The target's upstairs! Surround the building! With me—storm the floor!"
With a roar, the officer led the charge. Refugees clutching iron rods and clubs surged around the building. Lin Tuo frowned. The mob wasn't dangerous, but the dozen soldiers were another matter.
This was firepower—ten rifles at least.
Even with his current strength, Lin Tuo couldn't take direct gunfire head-on.
And these soldiers were almost certainly evolvers too—their strength, reflexes, and resilience far beyond ordinary men. With numbers and weapons combined, they were a real threat.
Even though this was just his clone, Lin Tuo strongly suspected any injuries it sustained would echo back to his real body.
Of course, he could always cut the connection and unleash his true self.
A single punch would flatten not just this squad, but the entire surrounding region.
But this situation hadn't escalated that far—yet.
Better to retreat for now.
He made his decision instantly.
Glancing at the tense Huaxi, he said nothing. Instead, he quickly pulled a dozen grenades from his pack, setting them into place.
Then, with one hand gripping his ammunition-stuffed backpack and the other hoisting the girl—still bound like a bundle—he kicked open a side window and leapt out.
At the same moment, the locked door burst inward.
Several soldiers stormed in with knives and guns raised—only to find a small pile of grenades roasting inside the furnace.
"Shit! Fall back!"
BOOM!!
The thunderclap of the explosion shattered glass and spewed fire and smoke into the dark blue sky above Mining Town.
At the town center, Lin Tuo jabbed a steel pipe through the tires of a car, then vaulted onto another vehicle.
After a moment of familiarizing himself with its controls, he looked back at Huaxi, bundled tightly in the back seat like a dumpling.
"Hold on."
Then, slamming his foot on the accelerator, he drove the modified car out of Mining Town—into the vast, frozen wilderness of dawn.
(End of Chapter)