Chapter 12.3 - Patience
When the sun set again, Su finally found an inhabited area. This was a large-scale inhabited land constructed on an abandoned town. The entire inhabited area consisted of roughly a 1000 residents. It was named after the original town, which was Saratoga.
Su was someone who obtained favorable impressions quite easily. Even though his outwards appearance with bandages covering him made others flinch, as long as he used that gem-like green eye to look at another, most people would strangely relax. Moreover, the Barrett on Su’s back was an even greater symbol of strength. Only high level snipers could possess something as valuable as a Barrett. Every person possessed greed, and every person also possessed fear. The weapons on an individual travelling alone would draw the eyes of many, but when that weapon was a Barrett, then those people would turn from greed to fear. Behind every Barrett was the disappearance of over a hundred lives.
After staying in the habitat for roughly an hour, Su had already understood most of this area’s topography.
Not only was there a chief of this inhabited land, there was also a twenty man police and armed force. There was also a bar, a few stores, and even a clinic. This wasn’t the type of clinic that most inhabited areas had where there was only one doctor. The doctor here even had the facilities necessary to carry out surgeries, and there were even four nurses to assist him.
These nurses were all the doctor’s property, or in other words, his slaves. The doctor purchased them one after another and gave them the basic training of nursing so that they could help out. Should the doctor need it, they would also be where he releases his desires. If the patients at the clinic were interested in them, then of course that was fine, but it was on the premise that they paid money first. From an income perspective, the four nurses actually brought in more for the clinic than what was earned based on standard diagnosis and treatment. In addition to giving them the basic necessities of life, the doctor would allow them to keep a bit for themselves. Sometimes, when he was happy, he became extremely generous. As a result, none of them chose to run. If they chose to leave this inhabited area, these girls without any self-preserving ability would gain freedom, but at the cost of their lives.
In Saratoga, slavery was legal and protected by the automatic rifles of their armed force. Escaped slaves would be pursued, and once caught, they would be strictly punished. Males would lose a limb or be tormented to death, while females would be open for all of the inhabited area’s males to defile. For the sake of defending this system, all other inhabited areas within a hundred kilometers of Saratoga cooperatively chased down the slaves that fled from the inhabited lands. Without any means of transportation, it was hard for slaves to escape this radius. If a slave was lucky somehow and managed to escape, a mountain range that wasn’t too tall was located to the west, while a wide plain and a forest lied to the north. Regardless of which direction the slave went, there would be mutated creatures waiting for these delicious slaves.
Ever since Su could remember, the places that Su visited for the most part supported or at the very least allowed slavery, so what Saratoga did was the same as what most other inhabited lands did. In addition, most companies and organizations used slaves, regardless of whether or not they showed support for the system on their surface. The age of turmoil had existed for far too long, to the point where most people began to think violence and plundering was the proper way to live. Of course, there were still many organizations who, whether they believed in the old way of thinking or for the sake of some objective, still made themselves look gentle and tender-hearted.
Several thousand years ago, bars were the place to exchange information. The age of turmoil was no exception. Cell phones and internet became the predominant way to exchange information in the new era, but the flood of information reached an almost suffocating level. Places like bars were still the original places for exchange, and as such, they continued to tenaciously survive and prosper. Now, in the age of turmoil, a bar could be found in practically any inhabited area. As for the inhabited areas that didn’t have one, it wasn’t that they didn’t have one, but rather that they had no way of supplying alcohol.
Just like Saratoga’s size, this bar wasn’t that small either. Dull lighting, a device that released flickering beams of light obtained from who knows where, frantic and crazy electronic music, as well as the turbid mixture of body odor, perfume, and alcohol all worked together to form the bar’s crazy and decadent atmosphere. In the bar, there were many people, many women, and most of all, guns.
When Su walked into the bar, a girl that wasn't particularly beautiful, but still sufficiently young was twisting and jerking her body about on the dancestage. The cloth on her body was pitifully lacking, and the parts that were covered weren’t the ones that should have been. The young lady’s skin wasn’t bad, but this was of course based on the wilderness’ standard. Moreover, she was extremely clean, obviously having quite an expense paid to take a shower. The men and women seemed to all be crowding around the stage. Quite a few eyes were on this girl, especially on her well shaped bottom. Men all wanted to pinch it a few times, while women all wanted to hatefully scratch it a few times.
A male jumped onto the stage with rather poor timing and began to boast about this girl’s good points and price. It seemed like this girl was his property. This man continued to chatter about how great a girl that has taken a shower was in bed, and how the price for the shower was not included in her price. Under these instigations, the girl’s body, and the stimulating alcohol, people began to place their bids. This place then began to bustle with activity.
Su found a table at a corner and placed the Barrett at the side of the wall. Even though the entire gun was wrapped in cloth strips, the coarse, wild, and cold feeling only a Barrett could give out attracted quite a few eyes, and quite a few of these eyes immediately recognized this famous olden era rifle just from the outline. Su’s rather frail body sharply contrasted this precious gun, stirring up the hearts of quite a few people. However, those that could recognize the Barrett weren’t people without brains, and they would never associate the size of one’s muscles with one’s ability in battle. However, the value of a soldier’s weapon was often proportionate to the soldier’s strength.
“Mister, could you purchase a cup of alcohol?” A shy female girl’s voice sounded from the side.
When Su turned around, he saw a little girl standing at the side of the table who was at most fourteen or fifteen years of age. She was carrying a bottle of whiskey from an unknown brand, and her right hand was raising a drinking glass. The little girl was skinny and shriveled. Even though she should have already reached a developing age, not the slightest protrusion could be seen sticking through her thin clothes. Her face could just barely be considered delicate and pretty, making her look like a girl.
Seeing the girl biting her lower lip while looking at him with eyes full of expectation, Su’s mind was slightly shaken. There was a small girl that relied on him for survival in the past. Thinking back, this was probably how tall she was now, right? No, no, staying by Angelina’s side, she should have grown much better. She must be extremely beautiful now, right? Were there many people pursuing her?”
As Su thought to himself, he seemed to be a bit startled, but also a bit grateful.
The little girl that held up the glass finally drew Su’s attention again. He gently asked for the price, and then he took out 50 coins to purchase half of the bottle. Su knew that if the little girl couldn’t sell this half bottle of alcohol, she would definitely receive punishment. The money was taken from Roxland anyway, so Su didn’t feel the slightest heartache. However, he seemed to forget that in order to lighten his load, he only took 60 yuan.
The girl seemed to lack confidence. Only after standing in a daze for a bit did she run off, forgetting to even say her thanks.
There were a few individuals secretly observing Su, but Su didn’t mind. No matter where it was, unique strangers always caught the eyes of others. There were a few who were eager to give him a try, but after seeing Su’s Barrett and the bandages covering Su’s body, they finally abandoned the idea.
At this time, a seemingly forty or so year old middle-aged man with a belly walked over and sat across from Su. He glanced in the direction where the little girl departed and said, “Let’s say we split the bill for this bottle.”
Seeing the middle-aged male place 25 yuan on the table, Su didn’t refuse and instead took it.
“You have to understand that your actions just now might not necessarily produce the result you wanted.” The middle-aged man said in a rather meaningful way.
The little girl then excitedly ran over from the restaurant and stood next to the table by Su, once again looking up at him with expectation. In that short period of time, her small face became a lot cleaner, and her hair was broken up and swept through with a comb. She seemed much prettier with some signs of maturity. Unfortunately, her underripe childish nature still remained on her face. Needless to say, there were quite a few men who liked this type.
“Mister, can you buy me?” The little girl enthusiastically said.
The middle-aged man gave Su a look. He spread his hands and picked up the bottle of alcohol, pouring himself a cup before slowly drinking it.
Su looked at the little girl. He was momentarily stumped on what he should say.
Seeing that Su didn’t reply, the girl immediately became a bit worried. “Even though I’m small, I know many, many things. I will definitely make you comfortable!”
Su still did not say anything. For the sake of proving herself, the girl grabbed Su’s hand and pressed it between her legs before twisting about. Even though she was slim, her legs were still supple, and her waist was soft, flexible, and rather forceful. Just like she said, she was a girl that knew how to please a man.
Su sighed and pulled out his hand. “Right now, I only have 35 yuan. 25 of that was given to me just now by this mister.”
His voice was still as gentle and soft as water.
Su’s reply left the girl shocked. She looked at Su, then looked at the gun next to Su. Her eyes suddenly became red, and while whimpering, she said, “You’re lying! You have money! Buying me will only cost you 500 yuan, no 400 yuan is enough! You just… you just don’t want to buy me!”