Chapter 111 - 93: Interlude

Chapter 111: Chapter 93: Interlude

Walking alone on the streets of the Inner City, Xu Mo deliberately slowed his pace, soaking in the atmosphere that was so different from the outside world. The streetlights were already on, casting a soft, warm yellow glow that brightly illuminated the streets. There were still quite a few pedestrians, most of them walking at a leisurely pace, their faces showing a sense of relaxation that was extremely rare in this post-apocalyptic world.

However, beneath this seemingly peaceful facade, Xu Mo’s perception could still pick up on some discordant elements. For instance, fleeting, probing glances from certain corners, or figures who appeared to be strolling aimlessly but were actually constantly scanning the belongings of passersby.

Just as Xu Mo was passing a relatively crowded intersection, a small, thin figure with their head down, walking in a hurry, bumped right into him. The movement seemed unintentional, but the moment they made contact, Xu Mo clearly felt a hand slither like an eel toward the TT33 pistol at his waist!

’Interesting,’ Xu Mo thought with a sigh. ’I can’t believe I’d be targeted too.’

The instant the hand was about to touch his holster, the muscles in Xu Mo’s waist tensed slightly. The thief only felt his fingers hit something like a piece of resilient rubber and get gently bounced off.

"S-sorry!" The thief looked up, revealing a slick, shifty face, looking to be only about twenty years old. He forced a calm apology, his eyes darting as he tried to slip away from Xu Mo.

Xu Mo didn’t say a word, just watched the other person with a calm gaze, causing the thief’s feet to freeze in place and fine beads of sweat to form on his forehead.

Xu Mo uttered a single, indifferent word: "Scram."

The thief shot Xu Mo a glare, then turned without a word and dove into the crowd, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

It was just a minor incident, but it gave Xu Mo a clearer understanding of the "peace" within the Inner City. Beneath the polished surface, there was still filth and desperation.

After walking a bit further, an enticing aroma of food drifted through the air. Xu Mo followed the scent and saw a wonton stall set up on the roadside. A large pot of milky-white bone broth was boiling, billowing steam. The owners were an elderly couple, skillfully wrapping wontons with nimble movements. A few simple tables and chairs were set up on the roadside, and surprisingly, they were all full.

This familiar, bustling street-side atmosphere tugged at something in Xu Mo’s heart. He walked over and sat down at an empty spot by the roadside.

"Sir, a bowl of wontons."

"You got it, coming right up!" the old woman replied with a smile, deftly dropping the wrapped wontons into the pot.

Soon, a steaming hot bowl of wontons was served. The broth was clear, with droplets of oil and specks of green scallion floating on top. Each wonton, with its thin skin and generous filling, rested in the bowl like a small ingot. Xu Mo picked up his spoon and began to eat slowly. The taste wasn’t what you’d call amazing, but the rare sense of peace and familiarity allowed his tense nerves to relax a little.

Xu Mo watched the pedestrians come and go on the street as he ate. Just then, two women and a man sat down at the empty table next to him.

"Sir, three bowls of wontons!"

The three of them also looked to be in their twenties. Their clothes were ordinary, but their demeanor was completely different from the people around them. Xu Mo’s focus sharpened instantly. It wasn’t because they were particularly good-looking, but because the moment they got close, his perception—made exceptionally sharp by his practice of the Thirteen Grand Protectors’ Cross Training—faintly detected a kind of energy fluctuation within their bodies that seemed different from Qi and Blood Power! The fluctuation was very weak, flickering in and out of existence, but it possessed a unique "vitality."

’Superpower Users?’ Xu Mo thought to himself. He continued eating his wontons without any change in expression, but his ears perked up slightly.

The three of them didn’t notice anything unusual about Xu Mo and started talking among themselves in low voices. They kept their voices down, but with Xu Mo’s enhanced hearing, their words were still clearly audible.

"Weiwei, we really have you to thank this time. If it weren’t for you, our squad would’ve been done for in that abandoned factory," said a girl with a ponytail to the other woman, who had short hair and a calm disposition.

"Yeah, Weiwei’s Ice Wall came at the perfect time. It blocked the mutated hound’s pounce," the other member, a boy with glasses, chimed in gratefully. "But then again, Wang’s Flame Shock was crucial too. It burned down the entrance to that thing’s nest."

The short-haired woman called Weiwei shook her head, her tone calm. "All that matters is that the mission was completed successfully. You’ve all worked hard. Get some rest. We still have to report to the logistics department tomorrow."

"Mhm, I heard the reward for this mission is a lot of Contribution Points..." the ponytail girl said, her voice cheerful.

Hearing this, Xu Mo basically confirmed their identities—they were indeed Superpower Users, and it seemed they had just returned from a mission. He listened in for a few more moments out of curiosity, but their conversation soon shifted to gossip and interesting tidbits from around the base—which squad had found some good loot, what strange new missions the research institute had posted, and so on. Xu Mo quickly lost interest.

He quickly finished the rest of his wontons, paid his bill, and got up to leave. As he walked, he was still thinking about those three Superpower Users. ’Ice Wall... Flame Shock... Looks like they’re Elemental Ability Users.’ Their internal energy fluctuations were weak, but they were definitely there—a completely different feeling from his own pure and condensed Qi and Blood Power.

’I can’t believe I ran into Superpower Users just by grabbing a bite to eat,’ Xu Mo mused. ’It seems there are more of them in the Jiang City Shelter than I thought. At least, they’re not as exceptionally rare as the intel suggested. I just wonder what their actual strength is like, and how they would stack up against my Cowhide Realm.’