Across Deep Space: Four Men and a Play

This world now basically uses core transactions, and these cores can be exchanged with safe cities for weapons, food, etc.

The two level 2 cores that Li Shen had used to buy the necklace could already be exchanged for the cheapest gun. After finding out, Xiao Meng cried out that she had been cheated and wanted to go back and settle the score with the boss.

But Li Shen's words, "I'll give it to you, it's worth it," put out his anger.

Woohoo, this man seems cold and honest, but he seems to be so capable~

No wonder the main system is so obsessed, she is about to fall for it!

"We clean up stray bodies every day and have a lot of them." Li Shen took a piece of toasted steamed bread from the stall owner in front of him, used Evol to cool it down, broke off the softest piece and handed it to Xiao Meng's mouth.

[Is that so? Then you are very rich? Then why...?]

He is so powerful and rich, has Safe City never tried to recruit him?

“I just want to be here.” Where you’ve been.

[Why?] Xiao Meng still hasn't grasped the deeper meaning behind Li Shen's words.

Li Shen raised the corners of his mouth slightly but did not answer. He just gently wiped away the crumbs from the corner of her mouth with his fingertips.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Xiao Meng didn't care. She just thought that there might be something important here.

Li Shen walked very steadily and slowly, and Xiao Meng didn't feel any bumps at all. Soon she felt a little sleepy and began to yawn continuously.

"Sleepy?"

【Well, a little bit.】

"Take it back." Li Shen turned around and walked back.

Although the underground plaza is large, the exit is only in one direction, so if they need to go out, they can only walk back.

As they lined up for the exit, a commotion erupted ahead. Many people curiously looked in, then shook their heads and sighed.

"You can't get in without money, right?"

"It's really pitiful, such a small child."

"What can we do? This is the rule of the underground market."

Not far from the exit of the underground market was a narrow entrance. A little boy with ragged and dirty clothes was carrying a backpack made from clothes and begging the two men guarding the door.

"Brother, please, let me in. I promise I'll pay the entrance fee after I sell the goods."

"Please, my grandpa... needs money to save his life..."

The man on duty pushed him away impatiently and said, "Go away, go away. This is not a charity. You can't enter without paying the entrance fee."

Then he raised the gun in his hand and pointed it at the little boy, "Get out of here now! If you make trouble here again, I will make sure you don't see the sun tomorrow."

The little boy, who was about to continue begging, stopped in his tracks with a look of despair upon seeing this.

"Get out of here!"

Finally, the little boy turned and left silently.

No one who was queuing up to leave cared, after all, such farces happened every time the market opened.

Everyone is busy taking care of themselves, so who has the time to care about others?

But when the little boy was pushed by the guard, the bag on his back accidentally leaked a hole, and a very faint smell floated in the air.

The sleepy little dream suddenly woke up, this smell...

[Li Shen! Do you smell it?]

"what?"

Xiao Meng immediately got up and used her sensing ability to find the source of the smell.

[Li Shen! That! In that kid's bag!]

She tugged at Li Shen's shoulders impatiently and almost jumped down to chase him, but was held back by Li Shen.

"I know, don't worry."

Seeing how anxious she was, Li Shen didn't delay and used Evol a few times to pass the people in line and walked to the front.

Although those who were pushed away by the cold air were unhappy, they shut up when they saw Li Shen's cold expression.

Li Shen walked to the front of the line without any obstruction, returned the badge representing the client to the gatekeeper, and then went out.

There was only one exit leading to the outside world in this direction, so Li Shen easily saw the thin figure carrying the tattered cloth bag.

To be honest, Li Shen had never paid attention to this situation before. After all, he was busy cleaning up high-level stray bodies every day, which already consumed a lot of his energy.

"Is it him?" Li Shen lowered his head and asked the excited little guy in his arms.

【Yeah! 】

【Keep up, keep up! 】

"why?"

Li Shen still couldn't understand why she was so excited.

[There's something good in that bag! If I'm guessing correctly, it might be an important ingredient for making an inhibitor!]

"Inhibitor?"

Xiao Meng's claws tugged at Li Shen's black shirt. [Yes, yes, it's the thing that can suppress K41!]

She has all the memories of the main consciousness, and because of her mental power, her computing power far exceeds that of any device.

Moreover, Xia Jiumeng had already simulated the configuration of the inhibitor in the previous laboratory, but she had never been able to find a very important material. However, she did not expect to encounter it in this world.

Hearing her say this, Li Shen remembered what he had heard from 'Doctor Li' before, and immediately followed the little boy without delay.

Soon they followed the little boy to a dilapidated abandoned apartment building outside the city that looked like a temporary settlement. There were many vehicles and tents, and even some habitable

"Is the little guy back?"

"How's the exchange going?"

Some people in the gathering place heard the sound of footsteps outside and leaned out, smiling kindly when they saw the little boy.

The little boy didn't say anything, but just walked forward in silence.

"Is this what he is?"

"Maybe I didn't get the exchange... No one wanted those herbs anyway..."

"Didn't they say that there are people buying things at this city's underground market?"

"Once or twice is fine, but I'm not stupid. I can't do good things all the time..." Whispers came from many car windows or dilapidated windows.

"Oh, poor thing, I'm afraid Old Li won't make it this time..." An older sister sighed and shook her head.

"Just say we won't take them with us. Look how much slower we are every time because of them. If it weren't for our capable leader, we wouldn't know how many dangers we would have encountered."

A scarred man spoke unhappily, looking at the little boy walking away and spat, "You are such an ungrateful guy, you don't even bother to pay attention to me."

The eldest sister immediately stopped listening to him speak like this, and said with her hands on her hips, "How can you talk like that?"

"It's not easy to survive in this world these days. The leader didn't say anything about their slow speed, and you're still saying it here?"

"Aren't you also on the team? If you're not satisfied, then leave."

Scarface was about to curse back when he was stopped by someone next to him, "Old Knife, don't mess with her. Her son joined the pilot team. Be careful that she will retaliate against you."

"Mind your own business." Scarface could only say this angrily and turn back to the tent.

"Hmph, you bully the weak and fear the strong." The eldest sister put her hands on her hips and picked up a piece of bread like a rooster that had won a battle.

"This child is so pitiful." Looking at the little boy in the distance, she shook her head and returned to the temporary house.

Her son will be back soon, and she still has to prepare food.

Li Shen, holding the cat-like white tiger, attracted a lot of attention. In this world, it is rare for people to be able to afford to keep a cat, but strangers often come here, and since he is not aggressive, no one cares about them.

Li Shen followed the little boy not too far away, and walked around in circles until they stopped in front of a rusty, old, and dilapidated RV.

There was an old man sitting in the front of the car. His dull and cloudy eyes lit up when he saw the little boy.

When the little boy saw the old man, his originally slow steps became a little anxious.

"Grandpa, why did you come out?"

The boy casually placed his backpack on the ground and looked at the old man with concern.

"Cough cough, I'm fine, I can still walk." The old man coughed a few times uncomfortably and touched the little boy's head lovingly.

"Grandpa, I...I'm useless..." The boy instantly grabbed the old man's hand and sobbed softly with guilt.

The old man looked as if he had expected this. He gently patted the boy's trembling back and said, "It's okay, kid. For an old man like me, it's enough to have lived through these years in this chaotic world."

He's already old enough to have lived enough.

He was only worried about what the child would do when he was alone.

"grandfather....."

When the old man raised his eyes from the boy, he saw Li Shen standing quietly in the distance and the "cat" with bright eyes and wisdom in his arms?

"Mingming, this is...your friend?"

The boy, who was immersed in sadness, paused and asked, "?"

Following his grandfather's gaze, he saw the person behind him and instantly became nervous. He quickly wiped his face with his yellowed sleeves and then protected the old man.

"Who are you? What do you want to do?"

Seeing that he was seen, Li Shen was not embarrassed. He slowly walked towards them with Xiao Meng in his arms.

"I want to buy the plants in your backpack. What's the price?"

The grandfather and grandson, who were originally facing a great enemy, were stunned for a moment.

"You want to... buy these?" The old man's voice was filled with disbelief. After all, this gentleman didn't look like a loving person, and he had a lot of murderous aura.

"kindness."

At the old man's signal, the little boy cautiously handed the backpack to Li Shen.

Li Shen took out two level 2 cores. The boy didn't understand, but the old man waved his hands when he saw them, "This...this is too expensive!"

Level 30 core!

This is enough for him to take medicine 8 times and there is still a lot left over to exchange for a lot of food.

But these weeds that can be easily seen in the energy zone are definitely not worth this price!

The old man held his grandson back and stopped him from getting it. Seeing this, Li Shen simply placed the thing on the rubble of the building beside him.

Xiao Meng didn't have time to care about their excuses and shock. After Li Shen got the backpack, she used her sharp claws to cut open the backpack and buried her head in to search.

Soon she pulled out a long cylindrical plant that gradually became thinner at the bottom and was slightly curved.

[This is it.] She spit the substance into Li Shen’s palm and began to tidy up her messy hair.

Li Shen picked up the palm-sized plant in front of him and looked at it for a moment. He looked at the grandfather and grandson and said, "Here's your reward. I need all of these plants you have."

The boy looked at the plants in Li Shen's hand, which he picked at the edge of the primary and advanced areas.

The dangerous-looking man in front of him seemed to need this kind of thing. He knew that even if he picked all the plants, there would be more than the two cores in the man's hand.

But... he turned to look at his grandfather.

Grandpa can't wait any longer. This money can be used to buy better medicine to treat his illness, or even cure it.

He knew that if he asked his grandfather he would definitely not agree, so he agreed directly to Li Shen.

"Sir, I recognize this plant. We can stay here for 10 days. Give me your address and I'll deliver it to you every day. I have some left, so you can take them first."

The little boy ignored his grandfather's gaze and took the core that Li Shen had placed on the wreckage of the wall and ran away.

"Hey, Mingming!"

The old man wanted to call his grandson, but because of his illness he could not move and could only watch him run away.

Not long after, the child brought back a bunch of plants that were the same as the ones in Li Shen's hand, but they were a little wilted, probably because they had been left for too long.

Li Shen looked at Xiao Meng with a questioning look.

[It's OK, but the medicinal properties are a little weak.]

Li Shen nodded and said, "That's all." He took the plants and wanted to leave.

"Um, Mr. Black...where is your address? I'll try to pick some over the next few days and bring them to you when the time comes."

【Hahaha, Mr. Black! 】

[Li Shen! You changed your name!]

Li Shen looked at the little thing in his arms who was laughing so happily that a mixture of helplessness and doting flashed across his eyes.

"My name is Li Shen. I live in the tallest building in Lincheng Center."

He gently tapped the tiger head of Xiaomeng in his arms with his fingertips and walked in the direction he came from.

"Old Li! Are you there?!" Li Shen had not taken a few steps when a loud and powerful shout made him stop.

The visitor didn't notice Li Shen, he just walked towards Old Li and his grandson with a smile on his face.

"Good news, Lao Li! The leader of our patrol team is back!"

"There's actually a safe and effective healing potion on hand! Maybe your illness can be cured!"

The little boy was excited when he heard the news, but then his face became sad.

The healing potion is so expensive, they can't afford it.

"Thank you, Uncle Wang, we..."

While they were talking, Xiao Meng and Li Shen noticed the word "expedition team".

[I didn't expect this place to be where the expedition team was stationed. No wonder I always feel a strange atmosphere.]

"There are many powerful people hiding here." Li Shen looked at the scattered ruins of buildings around him. There were people here who were not weaker than him.

[Li Shen, I'm curious, how about we follow them?]

As a team that can safely travel across various regions and cities in such a world, Xiao Meng feels that following them may help her get more information about this world.

Li Shen paused and said nothing, just looked deeply at the little guy in his arms.

She had come to his side, and he would follow her wherever she wanted to go.

After a long moment, Li Shen's Adam's apple moved slightly. "Okay."

He already has her, so there is no need to live with the memories of dreams, but he always has to make arrangements before leaving.

Although the world has become a mess and no longer needs him to save it, he still has to say goodbye after living there for so long.

From now on, she will be in his life.

When the little boy was about to refuse, Li Shen saw this and asked, "How do you buy this potion?"

What he lacks the least is the core, so it would be nice if he could exchange it for a qualification to join the team.

"Sir..." The little boy and Old Li looked at him in surprise. Didn't he leave? What happened?

And what does this mean?

The man called Uncle Wang didn't think much of it and just laughed, "Old Li, is this your relative?"

"You're quite the handsome fellow! Are you asking how to get the captain a replacement potion? Come with me, I'll show you."

Uncle Wang thought that this was a relative of Old Li's family. After all, when he joined the team, Old Li's family said that his grandfather and grandson were separated from their relatives because of the chaos, and they wanted to follow the team to find their family.

I just didn’t expect that Lao Li, this poor relative, is so rich?

Uncle Wang, who was leading the way, looked at Li Shen quietly. His temperament was even better than the captain's. He was obviously a strong man. He was holding a clean and lively kitten that he only raised.

It's really extraordinary.

The little boy looked at Li Shen following Uncle Wang and couldn't help but wanted to step forward to explain but was stopped by Old Li.

He is old and weak, but he is not a fool.

Li Shen, who was about to leave, suddenly turned back to answer the question and did not refute the fact that he was his relative. Old Li instantly knew what Li Shen wanted to do.

He wanted to join the voyage.

Generally speaking, a long-distance voyage team does not accept people casually, unless it is a city that has never been visited, then they may accept a few newcomers. After all, with more people, it will be more difficult for the leader to protect the team.

But they have been to this city several times, and it is impossible to add more people here, unless... there are missing family members of the team members here or they have the full guarantee and recommendation from the team leader and team members.

This Mr. Li obviously doesn't know anyone, so if he wants to join the team, he can only be their "relative" for the time being.

"grandfather...."

"Child, help grandpa back to the car. He is too old to sit still..."

Old Li muttered as he pulled the little boy into the car.