socalfunplaces Chapter 7 Prologue
Chapter 7 Prologue
In 2275, at the Atom Cowboy Bar in Liberty City outside New Vegas, the cap of a bottle of Sunset Sarsaparilla was opened, and then the bottle was raised and swallowed down in one gulp.
After placing the bottle on the table, he didn't forget to put the cap away, since bottle caps are also a form of currency in the wasteland.
Then, Huo Yuhao picked up the book in his hand and continued reading, trying his best to understand its meaning.
The sounds of singing, laughter, clinking bottles, drunken ramblings and sobs filled the air inside the bar; cheers of winners and lamentations of losers at the card table; the clatter of slot machines; and the whispers of prostitutes on the second floor soliciting customers and discussing prices…
These things would enter Huo Yuhao's ear and then exit from the other ear; he was already used to this.
At this moment, Doyle nudged him with his elbow and said in a somewhat helpless and teasing tone, "Aren't you being a bit too boring? Who comes to a bar to read? You don't even drink."
"You look so out of place here. There are drinks, a casino, shows, and you can even spend some bottle caps to find a female companion to relax in your room."
"And you, our team's cook and sniper, are doing such... proper things here. It's such a waste of this environment."
"And is Sunset Sarsaparilla, a drink for kids, really that good? I've never seen you drink alcohol."
With that, Cole downed his beer in one gulp and then let out a burp at Huo Yuhao.
The smell of alcohol made Huo Yuhao take his attention away from the book and look at Cole beside him.
Then he said, "Actually, I also drink nuclear cola, but I drink purified water most of the time. After all, I know from books I read before the war that at my age, I can't drink alcohol."
Upon hearing this, Cole couldn't help but laugh out loud. This laughter attracted Thane, who had just come down from the card table. After hearing Huo Yuhao's answer, Thane also laughed out loud.
Then Thane said, "Come on, you're always making excuses. What does what happened before the war have to do with now? You're too old to drink, but does that mean you can shoot a gun?"
As he spoke, Thane took advantage of the chaos to steal two bottles of beer from Cole, gave one to Rand who was playing the slot machine, and then continued walking toward the card table.
Before Cole could react, two bottles of beer were gone from his sight.
Just as Cole was about to continue his teasing, he spoke up, "Aren't you going to order anything to eat? Are you just going to drink like this?"
Upon hearing this, Cole picked up another bottle of beer and said matter-of-factly, "I can't waste money. I used to feel like all the food was pretty much the same, but since you've been cooking for me, I feel like I should save some money in this area..."
He twitched his lips at this, then remembered that he and his companions had previously visited New Vegas because they were soldiers of the New California Republic.
These guys then spent almost all the money in their pockets before coming to this bar for entertainment during their vacation, instead of continuing to go to New Vegas.
So, I picked up where they left off, saying in a slightly teasing tone, "So, with the money left over from the meal, why not have a couple more drinks or play a couple of rounds of cards?"
Hearing what the other person said, Cole smiled and nodded, then downed his beer in one gulp, and then another burp came at Huo Yuhao.
In response, he immediately turned Cole's head to the side, making him burp in that direction.
Although Huo Yuhao didn't like the smell of alcohol or the noise in the bar.
However, Huo Yuhao would still come to such places with his teammates. He would at most order a Sunset Sarsaparilla, and spend the rest of his time reading and waiting for everyone to relax and finish.
He had been in the wasteland of Mojave for almost a year, and in that time, the boy was no longer in the state he had just arrived in this world.
At this moment, he was no longer the same person who had just left the Duke's mansion, a sensitive and naive fellow who, despite harboring a vow to avenge his mother, was also wary of the outside world.
The boy followed the squad through most of the Mojave Wasteland, and what he saw and experienced there far exceeded what he had spent eleven years in the Duke's mansion.
He had seen the strange creatures in this wasteland, the ruins created by the nuclear war, the extravagance and prosperity of New Vegas casinos, and the casinos that disgusted the boy but delighted others.
The boy marveled at the prosperity of New Vegas, a jewel in the Mojave Desert and indeed in all wastelands.
After all, he had heard that the true owner of this gambling city, Mr. House, a tycoon from the pre-war world, had transformed three native tribes near New Vegas into the three major families in the city who now wear suits and run casinos and collect art in just three years after his awakening.
Of course, inside that casino, one witnessed a frenzy of extravagance and debauchery, where people gambled away months' wages or their entire fortune at the card tables.
I saw the three major families in the gambling city. On the surface, they were civilized and polite, and their behavior was proper. However, their prostitution business was very prosperous. Many of them were in debt or were lured into drug addiction, and thus became prostitutes.
Among them are not only women, but also men, and even super mutants and ghouls.
He even heard that a certain family still retained the cannibalistic habit from when they were still a tribal people, though he didn't know the specifics.
However, beneath this prosperity that still retains the legacy of pre-war technology lies this situation.
Even so, New Vegas is still far better than the wasteland, but not everyone can enter it. Those who don't have enough money to buy a pass, or who are not New California soldiers, can only stay in Liberty City outside.
No one had ever seen Mr. House's face, but looking at New Vegas and everything there, he could sense that this pre-war tycoon possessed a certain arrogance and self-importance.
Because of his experience at the White Tiger Duke's mansion, the boy always felt a sense of unease about the place, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong with it.
However, for Huo Yuhao, that was not something he could care about.
Over the course of more than a year, he has become an important member of the team, serving as their cook and a sniper.
From patrolling supply lines to clearing out mutated creature lairs, fighting slave traders, and battling bandits like the Viper Gang or the Demon Gang.
The shotgun in the boy's hand had already reaped countless lives. He still remembered the feeling when he killed the bandit for the first time. Facing the figure that appeared in the anchor, he pulled the trigger, and the bullet passed through the other's head, and the body fell to the ground.
For a moment, he felt a jolt of shock, after all, it was his first time killing someone, and all he had to do was pull his finger.
The feeling was somewhat unreal and surreal, but the boy's heart quickly returned to calm.
After all, if these bandits aren't eliminated, the nearby villages and towns and the passing caravans won't be peaceful, and the wasteland won't give him any time to wallow in self-pity.
The moment the gunshot rang out, a life was lost. With each shot, he felt a peculiar sensation, which gave him a new idea for revenge against the Duke's mansion, but he couldn't go back yet.
Although Huo Yuhao's marksmanship was impeccable and he was even somewhat famous among the soldiers in New California, he was still not a true Ranger. He had not passed the assessment and was more like a temporary worker or mercenary.
According to team leader John, now is not the time, and some of the other three members of the team believe that John is being too harsh on the assessment this time.
However, Huo Yuhao didn't care. After all, he had never missed a month's supplies and salary, and after learning about the situation in the New California Republic, he realized that the problems there were not much less than those in this wasteland.
The New California Republic brought order to the wasteland, gradually guiding it towards a pre-war trajectory.
However, those problems persisted: hypocritical politicians, corrupt bureaucrats, and rapid expansion made logistics and security issues.
And then there are those who came from the heart of New California, having lost their land and property due to its heavy taxes, to this frontier to scavenge or to farm the ranches of New California's two-headed cattle tycoons...
Of course, Huo Yuhao couldn't change any of this. Even though this place was a bit better than the Duke's mansion, there were still many problems. At the same time, he always had a goal in mind: to go home.
But we still have no clue how to get home.
Huo Yuhao considered using his soul power to sense his surroundings and see if he could find a way back, but the result was that his soul power could only circulate within his body again and again, just like when he was cultivating in the Duke's mansion.
Furthermore, in this world, he could not sense any elemental energy, nor could he attach any spirit rings to become a spirit master.
Therefore, that soul power can only circulate within the body, just like in the past when cultivating. As for the Spirit Eye Martial Soul, it can only see further. Even the light that originally appeared when it was activated is now almost gone.
If it weren't for circulating the soul power within the body again and again, maintaining the state of past cultivation, so that it would remember that it did not belong to this world.
Huo Yuhao also contacted other organizations. Although there were many organizations in the wasteland, the only ones who could help him or were willing to make contact were the Divine Punishment Followers and the Elvis Presley Gang in Liberty City, apart from New California.
The two organizations, the former located in Free City, provide free treatment and addiction rehabilitation, and Huo Yuhao would go there in casual clothes to help whenever he had time.
The latter group consisted of pre-war Elvis imitators who became a gang in Liberty City, striving to maintain order. They had also helped resolve several robbery incidents targeting residents within Liberty City, and gradually became acquainted with the Elvis gang members.
Although it doesn't explicitly state that they want to return to another world, it uses a euphemistic way of saying it.
But whether it was scientists in New California, followers of the Apocalypse in Liberty City, or the Elvis Presley gang, their recommendation was always to give me a science fiction novel.
This did not make him give up. He would find books to read whenever he had time, hoping to find clues to go back, but he didn't have any leads.
When the door of the Atomic Cowboy Bar was pushed open, Huo Yuhao was there, with one of them on each shoulder, leading the drunken Cole and Thane out.
The only one behind who wasn't drunk, Rand, followed Huo Yuhao with the equally drunk Captain John.
The cold wind outside blew on his face, which made Huo Yuhao think about how the end of the year was approaching, and he couldn't help but feel a little emotional, realizing that he had been in this world for more than a year.
Meanwhile, Rand, with his free hand, took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, lit it, and then exhaled the smoke.
Seeing this, he gestured to Huo Yuhao, asking if he wanted one too.
Seeing this, Huo Yuhao said speechlessly, "I don't smoke this stuff, and do I look like I'm in a state where I can smoke right now?" He then looked at the two drunk people.
Upon hearing this, Rand grinned as he walked away and said, "You're so young, it's just that you're so boring every day. You're just too homesick."
"It's not a big deal. Be optimistic like me. I turned into a ghoul before I was even thirty because of excessive radiation, but I'm still alive."
Rand said this, but showed no intention of helping Huo Yuhao share the burden; instead, he continued to smoke.
Faced with this situation, Huo Yuhao could only roll his eyes and head towards the gambling city, where there was a train to the McCarran camp, so he could get back quickly, since it would be too cold to sleep on the streets tonight.
Huo Yuhao and Rand led them along, and then Rand asked, "We've only been drinking and haven't eaten all day. What are you planning to make for supper?"
Looking at the three drunk people beside him, Huo Yuhao said, "Let's borrow the stove from the camp canteen uncle to make some hangover soup..."