r18novel Chapter 15: So I deserve to be sold?
Chapter 15: So I deserve to be sold?
[Patrick's friend: Holy crap, where is this? A desert?]
[OHYYHO: This shouldn't be a desert, right? Weren't we just in a city? What's going on with this post-apocalyptic world? We're in a desert in the blink of an eye?]
[One Radish: They must have built the city in the desert. These people in this post-apocalyptic world are really something.]
[Brother Wuji: Is it possible that the apocalypse was caused by a sandstorm? Plus a viral infection or something?]
[Turtle Fan's Midnight Dream: Brother Wuji's idea is possible, but the streamer's current situation isn't good, so there's no way he can escape now.]
【…】
People in the live stream started to worry about Lu Yao's condition.
Once inside the desert, even if Lu Yao wanted to escape, he would probably get lost in the yellow sand.
Moreover, since it's a post-apocalyptic world, there might be zombies hiding under the yellow sand, so Lu Yao's current situation can only be described as adding insult to injury.
From the moment he entered this place, his hope of escape was completely extinguished.
escape?
Where can I escape to in this godforsaken place?
It seemed that for him, only by following this group of natives from the post-apocalyptic world could he survive.
"The desert is still as annoying as ever."
Ali looked at the situation outside and shook his head, saying, "I don't like it here. It's too hot. The chief and the others shouldn't have established their settlement in the desert."
His words caught Lu Yao's attention, and he subconsciously looked towards Ali.
Noticing Lu Yao's gaze, Ali glared at her fiercely and sneered, "What are you looking at? How could you hostages understand our predicament?"
His implication was that he was blaming Lu Yao for the apocalypse.
Aya frowned slightly and said, "Ali, don't talk nonsense. He's going to sell it. Your words might get relayed by him. Do you want to get the big guys in the settlement killed?"
Upon hearing this, Ali immediately calmed down, but his whole body became tense and flustered.
Lu Yao ignored him, already feeling uneasy about Aya's words.
Sell!
No wonder they call him a hostage.
This means they're going to sell him to someone else.
So, everyone in the post-apocalyptic world is a human trafficker?
I originally thought I was going to be taken back for experiments, but now it seems I was overthinking it. Selling him out is worse than using him for experiments!
[One Radish: Tsk tsk, the streamer has run into a bunch of human traffickers.]
[OHYYHO: So now even the streamer can't escape, right? Who's he being sold to? Is it some rich woman from a post-apocalyptic world?]
[Turtle Honey's Midnight Dream: Holy crap, you know what, you really think it's possible.]
[Brother Wuji: If this were truly a rich woman in a post-apocalyptic world, I'd want to be the one being sold off. This streamer has hit the jackpot!]
[Patrick Star's friend: Accidentally trespassed into the Heavenly Palace???]
【…】
The people in the live stream kept joking around.
At the same time, they also gained a better understanding of this post-apocalyptic world.
In any case, the streamer can't escape now and can only accept being sold, unless he really has some kind of plum blossom virus.
Once he's taken back to the settlement, he'll probably be stripped naked and thoroughly examined, right?
Lu Yao also became worried.
After a moment of silence, Aya turned to look at the yellow sand outside. She seemed to have gotten used to the sand blowing in, and she casually rolled up her sleeves to rub the purple lines on her arms.
Seeing this, the others stopped paying attention to Lu Yao and went back to their places to rest.
Lu Yao's gaze was on Aya; she really wanted to ask what the purple patterns were.
But he is mute now and cannot speak.
Noticing Lu Yao's gaze on her, Aya didn't seem to care and asked, "Are you curious about the markings on our bodies?"
She looked at Lu Yao with a mixture of envy and regret.
Lu Yao nodded, indicating that he was indeed curious, since these were things he didn't know, and he needed to learn more about this post-apocalyptic world.
"You guys are lucky; you have resistance to those viruses in your bodies. I'm talking about resistance to airborne viruses."
Aya explained calmly, "You can live for a long time, but we can't. Without enough money, we can't even afford the antidote. We can only wait to be completely contaminated by the virus and die in agony one by one."
"Don't blame us. After all, your value in life is that you're a hostage. You alone can be exchanged for the supplies of our entire settlement."
"We can even get a lot of antidotes in exchange; that's the value of you hostages."
"That's just how the world is, there's nothing we can do about it. We don't even know what we'll do after we sell you. We're just a bunch of pathetic wretches, we just want to live a little longer."
She said this without the slightest regret, as if it were something completely ordinary.
Lu Yao could understand.
In the face of the apocalypse, all sorts of mindsets exist. If it were him, he might have done something even more ruthless than Aya.
Now it's his turn to be sold, so he can only accept his bad luck.
But now he has a basic understanding of the post-apocalyptic world.
There are many viruses in the air, but it is unclear where these viruses come from. Moreover, according to Aya, it seems that the viruses in the air can "contaminate" them, which is to say, they have purple patterns.
Their lifespan will also be greatly reduced.
An antidote exists, but it is very valuable, and Aya and her friends have no way of obtaining it.
Even with Lu Yao as their hostage, they were reluctant to exchange her for the antidote. They preferred to exchange her for more supplies so that more people in the settlement could survive.
"Those people in large gathering places offer very high prices, especially for uncontaminated hostages like you. As long as you don't have other diseases, your value will only increase!"
Aya continued, "I don't want to sell you either, but we have no choice; you're too valuable."
Lu Yao remained silent, then turned to look outside.
No wonder Aya and the others valued him so much; to them, he was indeed too important as a hostage.
Even if one of them loses his life, they will bring him back as a hostage.
These aren't hostages, they're walking supplies!
"Why say so much? He's mute, he won't respond even if you talk to him!"
Ali snorted, leaned against the other side, and said slowly, "We're destined not to live for long. It would be good if we could leave a large amount of supplies for the people in the settlement before we die."
Hearing his words, Lu Yao became even more determined to escape.
If they don't consider themselves human, then he'll find a way to escape, leaving the other party completely hopeless.
They were all just trying to survive; these people had no choice, and so did he!