Chapter 12: Low-Radiation Water
Walking toward the city gates, Zhao Man broke the silence to keep the atmosphere from growing too stifling. “Is your patrol squad not busy?”
Even though Zhao Man was the one reaching out every time, he couldn’t shake the feeling that they had a lot of free time.
“During the Perpetual Day season, the patrol squads stagger our hunting excursions. When we first met, my squad had just returned from a hunt. Normally, we rest for two weeks before heading back out. But on the day I cut that bamboo for you, a mutated animal breached an agricultural base; our team handled it, so we earned a few extra days off. Just as we were gearing up to head out again, your message came through. We’ve already hit our performance quotas for the year, and no one particularly wants to hunt in the high-radiation zones, so we are relatively free right now,” Tang Heng explained.
The inner corporate drone in Zhao Man couldn’t bear to hear the word “performance.” He quickly pivoted: “Why doesn’t the base have a shortage of low-radiation water, but you do?”
“Do you pay points for your water?” Tang Heng countered with a seemingly unrelated question.
“I don’t know.” Zhao Man shook his head. He hadn’t paid his utility bills yet.
“With so many people on base, the supply couldn’t possibly keep up even if they charged points for it. Therefore, the water pumped to the Fifth, Sixth, and Outer Rings is all medium-radiation water purified from high-radiation sources. It’s perfectly fine for you Betas to drink, but not for Alphas,” Tang Heng said.
While Zhao Man was still wondering why, Tang Heng’s voice sounded again: “An Alpha’s mental strength can shield against a portion of environmental radiation, but that’s strictly an external defense. Drinking water puts it directly inside the body. For us, drinking that kind of water is practically swallowing slow-acting poison.”
“Then what about us?” Zhao Man asked.
“Your mental strength has a different focus than an Alpha’s. Betas and Omegas are about the same. The base provides water to ensure the survival of the majority. The base population is overwhelmingly Beta, so the purification energy standards are calibrated for Beta physiology.”
Put that way, Zhao Man understood perfectly.
Seeing Zhao Man step off the main road barely a short distance out of the base, Tang Heng looked shocked. “It’s this close?”
Zhao Man didn’t understand why he was so worked up and answered truthfully, “Yeah. How far could I possibly walk to scavenge on my own?” Thinking for a moment, he added, “Do you have anything else to do today? If not, could you keep me company while I scavenge?”
If it weren’t for Zhao Man’s deadpan expression, Tang Heng would have suspected the kid had ulterior motives. “There shouldn’t be anything else on my schedule today, but I still want to—”
Hearing that he was free, Zhao Man, whose mind was entirely set on catching more fish, eagerly interrupted, “I want to scout around and see if there are other low-radiation pools, but it’s a bit dangerous on my own.”
“—want to gather more water. I’ll go with you,” Tang Heng finished his sentence without skipping a beat.
Arriving at the spot where he had fallen in yesterday, Zhao Man looked around. Unsure if anyone was lurking nearby, he asked, “Is there anyone around?”
Tang Heng swept the area with his mental strength and said, “Yes, but they’re far away.”
Nodding, Zhao Man wrapped a cloth securely around his face, found a good angle, and dropped down into the trench. Tang Heng hopped down right after him.
“If someone approaches, remember to warn me.” With that, Zhao Man pointed toward the base. “The water is over there, but I want to check out this direction first.” He pointed behind them.
Tang Heng thought for a moment and said, “I can go with you, but I need to fetch my water first.”
Fair enough. Zhao Man took the lead. Without stopping to scan every weed, they made good time. Twenty minutes later, the two arrived at the water dropwort patch.
“Right here.”
Tang Heng crouched down, dabbed a finger into the pool, and smeared a drop onto his terminal. Seeing the scan register as low-radiation water, he immediately broke into a wide grin.
“There are bugs in this water. You can’t drink it raw,” Zhao Man warned.
“The squad has filtration equipment.”
Seeing Zhao Man fall silent and start parting the water dropwort to look for fish, Tang Heng simply released his mental strength. Reaching into the water, he snatched a fish with every grab. In less than two minutes, eleven fish were flopping on the damp earth.
Once the fish were caught, Tang Heng unzipped his massive backpack. Only then did Zhao Man see that it was stuffed to the brim with canteens and several large collapsible water bladders.
Tang Heng ignored Zhao Man and focused intently on filling his containers. Zhao Man pulled out his dagger, pricked a drop of fish fluid onto his terminal, wiped it clean after verifying the scan, and moved on to the next one.
Out of the eleven fish, six were edible. He wrapped them all securely in broad leaves, then squatted on the far side of the patch to begin scanning the water dropwort.
In less than ten minutes, Tang Heng had topped off every canteen. He turned to Zhao Man. “I need to run this water back to base first, then come back. Can you wait for me here?”
“Can’t you just come fill them tomorrow?” Zhao Man asked.
Tang Heng shook his head. “I only have today off. Starting tomorrow, we have to run security sweeps at the agricultural bases to prep for the harvest. The entire patrol squad will be tied up. Shortly after the harvest, the snow season hits. Once it snows, this water source is as good as gone.”
Hearing the genuine ache of impending loss in Tang Heng’s tone, Zhao Man said, “Then go ahead. I’ll stay here and scan. If you go this way, you can climb out easily. Here are your fish.”
Dodging Zhao Man’s outstretched hand, Tang Heng said, “Keep the fish. But could I ask you for a favor? This isn’t a stagnant pool, meaning the surrounding ones probably aren’t either. Could you help me test the area and find out which other pools are low-radiation? In exchange, I can pay you in points, or if you want something else, just name your price.”
Zhao Man checked his terminal. He still had 178 points—enough for the time being. After a moment’s thought, he said, “I need winter provisions. No potatoes. I want rice and meat. Just tally up the value of whatever water I find and compensate me in those.”
He was already thoroughly sick of eating nothing but potatoes and sand yams.
“Deal.” With that, Tang Heng set off in the direction Zhao Man had pointed. Only after walking a good distance to confirm no one was lingering above did he climb out of the trench and hurry toward the base.
Zhao Man stowed the fish and the edible dropwort, then resumed his march forward. He tested every puddle and pool he came across, tracking all the way back to the shadow of the base’s perimeter wall. Ultimately, he uncovered three more low-radiation pools, one of which was located right beside the small bamboo grove.
While scanning the pool there, he also spotted fresh bamboo shoots as thick as a thumb. After snapping a picture and sending it to Tang Heng, Zhao Man happily immersed himself in harvesting the shoots.
Looking at the photo Zhao Man sent, Tang Heng—who had initially planned to bring only two guys—stopped in his tracks and summoned his entire squad. “There are four low-radiation pools just outside the base. It’s live, flowing water. But we can’t drop today’s patrol routes. Sun Chao, you lead a detail to cover the patrols. The rest of us are going to draw water. Once you finish the shift handover at three o’clock, take the tricycles, load up the heavy water barrels, and meet us. Remember to keep a low profile.”
“Yes, Captain!”
Tang Heng brought two men with him. Each lugged a massive backpack crammed with every canteen, collapsible bladder, and bucket the squad owned.
The bamboo grove ended right up against the base wall. Although there was no standing pool here, the ground was pure, squelching mud. Zhao Man’s boots were completely unrecognizable. After sweeping the grove back and forth twice to ensure he hadn’t missed a single shoot, he walked to the bank, roughly wiped the mud from his boots on some tall grass, gathered his harvest in his arms, and returned to the main water dropwort patch.
Seeing that Tang Heng still hadn’t returned, Zhao Man paid it no mind and went about his business, scanning off to the side. By the time he was done, he had found over twenty edible shoots.
Tucking them gleefully into his pack, Zhao Man returned to scanning the dropwort. The shoots surrounding the pool in the bamboo grove had already been stripped bare by him, and the other two pools had nothing but moss around them.
While engrossed in his scanning, Zhao Man suddenly heard footsteps. Unsure if it was Tang Heng, he held his breath and quietly slipped his dagger from his bag.
A moment later, figures emerged from the gloom. Tang Heng was leading Li Guang and Zhang Zhe.
Spotting Zhao Man, the two patrolmen broke into bright, sunny smiles and raised their hands in silent, enthusiastic greetings.
Zhao Man remembered them and raised his hand in return, instantly sparking a cheerful, friendly vibe. Tang Heng shot the two of them a freezing glare, and the cheerful atmosphere dissipated on the spot.
After inspecting all three pools, Tang Heng decided to abandon the one by the bamboo grove. For one, it was surrounded by thick mud; for another, the terrain was relatively open. Even with the tall grass, it lacked adequate cover.
The other two pools weren’t far apart, situated on the left and right sides of the trench. The water was clear enough to see tiny bugs swimming about.
It was now past eleven. Zhao Man took out his flask for a sip of water, then retrieved his boiled potatoes from the top of his pack and peeled them for lunch. Meanwhile, the three men pulled out ladles and began filling the canteens. Once all the canteens were topped off, they started on the buckets.
Finishing his potato, Zhao Man squatted on Tang Heng’s side and continued to scan the water dropwort. After testing the entire patch, he secured over thirty edible stalks. Bundled together, they made exactly two handfuls.
The water in the pool was finally hitting bottom, barely covering the base of the three collapsible buckets. Li Guang and Zhang Zhe drew their tools and began digging to deepen the basin.
Tang Heng put down his ladle and said, “You two stay here and expand the pool. Wait for the water to seep back in. I’ll go with you to scavenge over there.”
After they had walked a fair distance down the trench, Tang Heng flared his mental strength to ensure no one was around, then said, “Sun Chao and the rest will be here at three. We’ll be holding this position until eight tonight. They’ll make a lot of noise when they arrive. Make sure you leave before they get here so you don’t draw unwanted attention.”
Seeing Zhao Man nod, he added, “Scavenge for another three or four days, then you need to start hunkering down for the snow season. Don’t come back here to scavenge. We won’t be able to keep this water source a secret for long. Before the snow hits, this trench will be swarming with Alphas. I’ll deliver your provisions after the snow starts. I’ve also sourced some materials for you to build planting racks in your courtyard, so you can grow a wider variety of things.”
“Really?” Zhao Man grabbed Tang Heng’s arm, flooded with genuine, heartfelt gratitude this time. “Thank you so much, Captain Tang.”
“Shh.” Waiting until the faint sound of footsteps passing above them faded away, the two continued walking, quickly arriving back at the spot where they had first dropped in.
Zhao Man began to observe the surroundings carefully, but the farther they moved from the base, the drier the earth became. The trench stretched out barren and empty, devoid of anything useful at all.
