"Two Kings, a bomb."
"An Ace, plus a six, cover it."
Across the table, the rusty robot scratched his metal head, "Don't trick me! How can A and 6 be a sequence! Is your head rotten?"
"Han Zai, you don't know something."
"In the old era, there was a most rampant official car, its model was called A6, ignoring all rules."
Cheng Qi tapped the frayed poker cards on the table and said seriously, "A and 6 in sequence is A6. I'm driving an A6, directly stepping on the gas and rushing out of your explosion range, so the bomb is ineffective against me."
Han Zai's visual lenses in his eyes slightly retracted and expanded, focusing on the tabletop, "Oh my, what kind of game is this? There are so many rules, my head is starting to ache!"
Cheng Qi grinned mischievously.
Han Zai became even more anxious, raising his rusty arm, "Master, don't laugh, I'll definitely be strong next time!"
Just then.
The entire ground began to shake, and a rumbling tremor came from outside.
"It's finally here!"
Cheng Qi's eyes lit up. He got up and went to the entrance of the shack, lifted the heavy radiation-proof tarpaulin, and looked up at the distant sky.
Above the dark gray atmosphere, a 32-kilometer-long Galaxy-class transport Starship slowly approached, bringing with it a huge air tremor and a sense of oppression.
And on the ground outside the dilapidated shack.
As far as the eye could see, there was non-degradable garbage.
Dark silver metal wreckage, black chemical fuel barrels, and decaying unknown biological bodies. The atmosphere was also dim and lightless, with countless metal dust floating within it.
This is Earth.
Many years ago, a fellow with mixed accomplishments invented the Directional Star Gate technology, and from then on, Human Civilization entered the Great Universe Era.
This mother planet of humanity beneath their feet was drained of all its energy within a short 60 years.
Now.
She has become the largest garbage dump in the Galaxy.
She is no longer that beautiful blue planet. If viewed from outer space, she appears dull and hazy, covered by a thick layer of garbage, looking like a moldy prune.
Human Second Era, Year 024.
Earth had already become a symbol of tragedy in the universe.
Human Civilization had already moved away from here.
Only a few remaining humans struggled to survive here, and these people all shared a common identity—Scavengers.
Cheng Qi was also a Scavenger.
Han Zai was a B343 Nanny Robot picked up in a garbage heap three years ago.
Perhaps due to his previous owner, his voice system was in the Sichuan dialect version.
Buzz—!
High above, the giant Starship hovered, its heavy hatch slowly opening.
Immediately, millions of tons of garbage scattered and fell from the sky to the ground, a rather spectacular scene.
"New stuff again!"
"Hurry up and get it!"
Han Zai moved his mechanical arm, and a screw flew off, but he was very excited.
"I don't need much."
"A few kilograms of rare alloys, or a few usable P7-grade circuit boards, or even a complete fuel cell would do."
"After all, this time, I went all out."
Cheng Qi's eyes flickered. He took a deep breath and slowly walked out of the shack.
The Starship engine stirred up a mighty airflow.
The eighteen-year-old boy's face was resolute, and the dark blue Scavenger cloak behind him, covered in oil stains and holes, fluttered and flapped in the wind.
In the distance.
The transport Starship finished dumping, roared away, and disappeared into the atmosphere.
Coming and going in a hurry, no one would pity the garbage here.
And on the ground.
A giant garbage mountain, nearly 500 meters high, had appeared.
Dust, metal particles, toxic chemical gases, and unknown radiation were rampant.
Cheng Qi and Han Zai climbed up one side of the garbage mountain.
An unnamed spore, affected by nuclear radiation, landed and rooted on Han Zai's brass head, blooming into a flower.
Han Zai shook his head slightly, letting the spore grow.
They needed to insert their detector into the very top of the garbage mountain to release detection waves downwards, thereby finding valuable items.
Han Zai's arm had a lifting strength of about 3 tons. Once the location of a valuable item was determined, he would begin to dig with his bare hands. For a long time, the two 'people' had cooperated this way, as assistant and master, and also as partners who depended on each other.
While climbing, the detector emitted a beeping sound.
Cheng Qi became increasingly delighted; this ship's garbage seemed to be of high quality.
But things didn't seem to go so smoothly.
From the other side of the garbage mountain, the roar of a small engine could be heard.
Cheng Qi's brows furrowed.
The next moment, a heavy motorcycle with black smoke coming from its exhaust pipe appeared at the top of the garbage mountain.
The two wheels of this motorcycle had been modified into multiple metal hooks. With enough throttle, it could churn through the garbage and quickly climb to the top of the mountain.
Han Zai looked up, the spore swaying slightly, "It's that bastard again."
On the motorcycle was a burly man wearing a black gas mask. His right arm had been modified into a hydraulic mechanical body. Although it was dilapidated, it could easily crush Han Zai, let alone Cheng Qi.
"Get lost."
The big man's voice was low, without any unnecessary words.
"E Luo."
Cheng Qi looked up, "This pile at our feet is 7-12-5. I've already paid the 'development fee' to the Scavengers Association in advance."
7-12-5.
It meant the dump from the 5th garbage ship on July 12th.
Cheng Qi had observed for a long time that every 156 days, that Starship, belonging to a certain mechanical group, would come to dump garbage, and according to its route settings, it would most likely be the 3rd ship of the day.
Garbage from the mechanical group had always been of high value.
Someone once dug up a fully functional energy storage generator, as well as various high-value alloy scrap, and that Scavenger earned a full 7500 credit points at the time.
"To pay the development fee, I borrowed a high-interest loan from Hyena."
Cheng Qi puffed out his chest, "But since I've paid, then the 7-12-5 garbage dump is mine."
"That Hyena fellow, he eats people without spitting out the bones."
The motorcycle man seemed to be giving a kind reminder, but his voice was actually devoid of emotion, "If you don't find high-value items today, you'll die a miserable death."
As he spoke, more than a dozen Scavenger subordinates appeared behind him, along with seven or eight crudely assembled engineering robots.
"I heard."
"7-12-5, 8-01-22, 9-12-12... have all been reserved by you?"
The motorcycle man's voice was very low, and his eyes were full of greed, "You little beggar have always been shrewd, the value of these numbered garbage piles shouldn't be too bad."
"You want to steal it?"
Cheng Qi had already guessed the other party's meaning and said neither subserviently nor arrogantly, "Aren't you afraid of the Scavengers Association sanctioning you?"
"The association has another rule."
The motorcycle man shook his head, then a murderous intent suddenly appeared in his eyes, "If a person dies, the reservation is canceled."
"Goodbye."
The metal cover plate on the rear of the heavy motorcycle flipped open, and a rusty cruise missile rose out.
Whoosh—!
White smoke billowed, the missile launched with a roar, its targeting radar also rusty, but it wobbled erratically straight towards Cheng Qi on the mountainside.
Boom!
Heatwaves swept, air currents surged, and countless metal fragments were blown into the sky.
Through the thick smoke, a dark figure was vaguely seen being thrown high up, then falling into a garbage abyss 2 kilometers away.
The motorcycle man sneered, "7-12-5 is ours now. From now on, this area is ours too. Don't just stand there, get to work, damn it!"
The Earth in the past was a time of order, but it was still a place where the strong preyed on the weak.
But the Earth now had no decent rules at all.
Everyone was at the bottom, struggling without escape, and cannibalism happened every day.
In the garbage abyss.
Cheng Qi took a deep breath and suddenly woke up from his coma, only to see Han Zai's rusty head protecting his chest, his mechanical arm also holding him tightly.
"Han Zai?"
"You protected me?"
"Han Zai?!"
Cheng Qi pushed away Han Zai's limp arm, stood up, and looked at Han Zai's back, his pupils trembling.
Half of Han Zai's torso, and both of his legs, had been blown off.
Most fatally, Han Zai's entire back of the head had been melted by the immense heat, his processing core completely exposed, and his memory transistors were shattered, with the red information conductive fluid flowing out like blood onto the ground.
The spore was still on his head, but it had grown and died quickly, already withered.
Cheng Qi's body trembled.
Memory transistors shattered, not a single drop of information conductive fluid left.
Even if repaired, Han Zai would no longer exist.
Short-circuit sparks popped from the back of his head, and Han Zai's body trembled.
His mouth area was a green energy light, now flickering faintly.
He spoke his last words.
"What the heck!"
"Head's rotten?"
"I'm probably scrapped."
"From now on, without me by your side, take good care of yourself, okay."
"I know all your little tricks in poker. The next robot won't let you win."
"Cheng Qi, farewell!"
"I... I'm going to sleep."