Bought the Battle Pass

Sun Jiao

Sun Jiao woke up early as always, her biological clock warning her even before her EP device could beep. Years of living alone in this post-apocalyptic wilderness conditioned her many small habits that kept her alive.

She wakes up already fully alert, looking around for any dangers and with spatial/situational awareness to understand her surroundings and remember where she is.

“Ah yes, yesterday…” She says while getting out of bed. She moves around so much that she sometimes forgets where she is, there’s also times when a certain place at night can look completely different from how it is in the morning.

But she remembers pretty easily the strange events of yesterday.

Sun Jiao was in a hopeless situation, without any nutrients or solutions to keep herself alive, not the first time, but things were really bad at that moment. Eventually she was saved by pure luck, again not the first time that she escaped from the jaws of death by luck.

 You need to have a certain degree of luck to survive around here, after all.

And eventually she ends up being hired to a job that looks suspiciously easy and advantageous.

She is ready to run at any time obviously, but the payment is simply too good… And as a good judge of character, another thing that kept her alive till now, she can say that her employer is not a dangerous individual.

To her at least, she saw his status… Another thing that boosted her confidence in him, you don’t show your status that easily to other people. She doesn’t think that he is lying despite his words, demands, attitude and even objective being weird.

Her enhanced senses detect a good smell and she moves down to the kitchen of this place.

It’s obviously abandoned and no electronic device works, but she finds Hector there making… food?

He is making food… Something that is completely weird in this post-apocalyptic world.

“Good morning.” He greets her without turning around. “Sit, breakfast will be ready at any minute and then we can go to the Sixth Street.”

“Breakfast?” It’s such an outlandish concept to her.

“Yeah, the first and most important meal of the day…” He says “I understand your thoughts, but from now on you won’t go without a breakfast.”

“...” Amazed and a little shocked, she sits down on the table while looking at his employer back as he works on the kitchen counter.

Sun Jiao finally takes a good look at Hector.

She can’t guess his age, he must be 20, but his body is of a veteran warrior. He is tall and well-built and pretty handsome too, she can’t deny it. Dark black hair, curly and long enough to be tied in a ponytail, deep blue eyes, and a beardless face that shows off his sharp jaw.

It’s rare for a male specimen to be so… well-groomed.

She met all kinds of men in her life and despite finding muscular and handsome men too, Hector is different from the rest because he is… The word is on the tip of her tongue… He looks… Clean? Is that the word she is looking for?

He has no scars, no burns, no prosthetics of any cybernetic implant, he has good and well-taken care hair and clothes…

He doesn’t look like he spent even a day outside, but his body doesn’t lie… And the way he moves around is another argument.

He is not any fragile boy.

He knows how to fight… He killed before…

He is a big puzzle to her.

“Too bad none of the home appliances work… My sandwiches would go much better if I could heat them.” He chuckles while his hands move around. “You will freak out when you stretch melted cheese for the first time.” He chuckles

Sun Jiao notices the handgun on his waist. On the day before he commented that is only “a good way to threaten people” and that he rarely uses it.

It’s a little old, shooting metal projectiles instead of energy blasts, but many still use them because they can’t be compromised that easily. EMPs are a thing around here after all.

And there are some special shells that do a better job than energy blasts.

“Do you know the origin of sandwiches, hot dogs, and hamburgers in general?” Hector suddenly asks

“No…”

“A guy called Jonh Montagu was an addicted gambler, hehe. Well, he liked to play cards… So he asked one of his butlers or whatever to bring something that he could eat with his hands… You know, without the plates and silverware in front of him… There’s a lot of them and he needs the space on the table to put the cards. So the butler brought him a steak between two slices of bread. Easy to eat with one hand and his fingers would not get dirty by the juices of the meat. Then it became popular as an easy snack to carry and to bring in picnics. To watch a lake or something…” He explains

“Oh…” It makes sense, Sun Jiao things. Not that she cares…

Hector continues “The sandwich become one of my favorite things since I became a traveler. Easy to make, easy to carry, easy to eat… And you can make so many variations… Full of meat and protein, or maybe something more healthy, and even sweets like peanut butter and jelly. You can’t get bored of a sandwich.”

He finally turns around carrying two plates in his hands, a small smile on his face “I made a lot of sandwiches in the last years, so I’m sure you will like it even though my resources are limited.”

Then he puts the plates on the table and Sun Jiao's eyes widen, her mouth drooling…

She never saw bread… Now imagine her reaction to a full-blow sandwich.

With cheese, turkey, mayo, tomato, and lettuce… The colors are so vibrant that she can’t believe it. The bread looks so soft, the vegetables fresh and juicy.

Hector chuckles seeing her reaction, but doesn’t tease her.

He starts cutting the sandwiches in half.

“Huhu, this makes me remember…I cut my sandwiches in the middle to make rectangles instead of in the diagonal to make triangles. My friends told, from Discord, me that I must be some sort of psychopath.” He pushed her plate to her. Eight big sandwiches cut into smaller ones, just enough to fit a side in a bite. He knows she eats a lot, like him, they can’t maintain their body with little nutrients after all “Maybe they’re right in the end.” Hector chuckles again before turning around to take two bottles of orange juice.

He gestures to the table fancily “Enjoy~”

Sun Jiao doesn’t need to be told twice. She starts to inhale the food like she is gonna die if her mouth gets empty for even one second, her hands moving fast and her cheeks filling like a chipmunk.

She noticed Hector looking at her for a moment before chuckling and shaking his head, before going to eat his food in a much more calm and dignified manner.

She noticed that too about him… He is educated, courteous… He has good manners! That is another something rare around here.

He is all weird, he looks as ready as anyone to deal with this post-apocalyptic world, a veteran even… But at the same time he doesn’t act the part.

Well, this works for her, he is much more pleasant than 95% of the rest of the people that she has ever met… Maybe 99%.

“Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!” After eating everything in record time Sun Jiao grabs the bottle of juice and chugs down with the same finesse and manners that she used to eat… None. “Aaaah~ This is too good!” She even burps

“Glad you liked it… And there are even better foods for you to try.” He smiles widely, the first excited smile that she saw from him “Doesn’t that make you excited? Discover new and wonderful foods… I love it too. And I’m surprisingly like sharing a little with someone like you.”

“Really?” She looks unsure… The post-meal clarity hit her “All of this can be considered luxurious ingredients, is okay to eat now instead of selling?”

“Nah, I can’t sell those fresh things anyway… it would be too suspicious, for now. I will only sell the canned food.” he says dismissively, finishing his food too “And like I said, it was surprisingly nice watching you enjoy it so much. Sanji was into something…”

“... you are weird.” She can understand only half of what he says sometimes.

To that, Hector only chuckles again, not explaining himself.

…………………………………….

Now Sun Jiao is taking Hector outside, guiding him through the wilderness of this abandoned city. The two are now in more comfortable clothes to travel light.

Sun Jiao is carrying two rifles in her back and a pistol in her holster. She doesn’t have much ammo or Type-C batteries for her laser weapons, but it will be enough to reach their destination.

She gives a glance over her shoulder to observe Hector. He looks exactly like this morning, just wearing a trench coat over his clothes and a backpack. But Sun Jia can see that his clothes are to travel comfortably. 

She knows that he is hiding his gun on the trench coat and his blade is visible on his waist, but the strange thing is the featureless mask on his face.

“You know that they get you DNA information at the gate, right?” She can’t help but say “And at the Trading Center you will need to show your face during the registration.” To her, in a world where people identify the other through their DNAs, hiding their faces is pointless.

Hector, who was looking around, slowly turned his head to her “Do I need to show my DNA to everyone in the street?” He asks in a very calm tone

“No…”

“Then it is enough.” He speaks in a tone that ends the conversation right there.

“...” Sun Jiao can somewhat understand but she still thinks that is pointless.

Is he trying to hide his identity in case he gets himself in trouble? If he does that the guards would check his ID anyway and Blacklist him, or worse… Or does he thinks that he can escape? That’s ridiculous.

She sees his status and knows that he is strong, but he would need to be able to fly to escape a survival camp if the guards are after his blood.

The long walk was not awkward despite Hector's short answers and somewhat unfriendly stance. He asks a lot of questions…

“What is that?” “What happened here?” “Is that thing normal?”

Sun Jiao answered the best she could, remembering that part of the deal is to teach him things like he is a novice, a kid even.

“And what about those zombies? What type are they?” Hector asks after they notice three zombies blocking their way.

“Blocking” would be a strong word… They are just standing there, lethargically groaning and moaning.

‘Type?’ “Zombies are mostly harmless during the day, it’s when they stop to absorb energy so that they can hunt at night… But they will obviously fight back if you try to kill them. A shot between the eyebrows at a good distance does the work and you will never be in danger.” Sun Jiao explains.

“Energy during the day? Are they doing photosynthesis? There are algae parasites on them or something like that?” 

“I don’t know the details, but I know they are infected by something…”

“That much is obvious…” Hector says in a tone that annoys Sun Jiao, and then he steps forward “Would they die like a normal person, or only destroying if the brain is destroyed?” He asks again

“The entire nervous system is a weak point, but obviously the brain is the main target… It’s bigger and affects the whole body.”

“What if I cut the neck? Will the head remains alive?” He starts unsheathing his katana.

“Yes, pretty much.” Sun Jiao answers 

“I see…” Swish Swish Swish*

Then just before her eyes, Hector moves at lightning speed. She can still see him moving… How he Zig-Zagged through the 3 zombies with three measured steps and cut the top of their heads.

What she didn't see was his hands moving the katana, she only saw a blur and then it was over.

He is dangerous…

“Let’s go.” With a last swing of his Katana, to take the blood off, he says before sheathing it again.

“You are the boss…” She answers and moves ahead.

She thought that using cold and melee weapons was kinda dumb, but now she is rethinking it. From what she saw… He is faster than her pulling her gun.

She would need to be at a good distance to make use of the advantage that a gun gives.

Boom Boom Crash

After walking a little more they suddenly hear some loud sounds of battle in the distance. Sun Jiao instantly starts rushing to the site of the battle but…

“Where are you going?” Hector grabs her forearm and holds her in place 

“A battle is happening!” She turns to him and says fast, in urgency.

“What does this have to do with us?” He asks calmly

“It’s a common practice!” She shouts, debating in her mind how to explain it quickly.

In this post-apocalyptic world, if you notice some big fight like this is common to approach to see what’s happening. You can do it for the most varied reasons…

To help… Not common.

To meet the people, so that you can make some trades… More common.

And to fish in troubled waters and benefit from the battle… Very common.

If two groups of survivors are fighting you can loot the corpses for the valuables. You can also loot the remains of a big monster.

In simple terms, it’s an opportunity to profit with minimal risk.

“I can understand it.” Hector says “And I’m also curious to watch the fight… But why are you running off without me? You’re my guide. You’re not any scavenger or vulture… Why are you so anxious? Just let go on our pace.”

His voice doesn’t allow any defiance. In the end, Hector is in charge.

“Okay…” She finally agrees.

He nods and the two even run a little to catch up the battle. He is not against rushing to the battle, his annoyance comes from her sudden and deliberate decision.

But he can’t blame her too much… Sun Jiao forgot that he didn’t have common sense to those things and just ran. In her mind, he would be just behind her following the explosion.

They arrive at the battle just in time to see a big vehicle move forward, with an operator in the canon pointing to a huge slug-like monster.

BOOM

Then the cannon shoots some heavy artillery that opens a huge hole into the monsters, defeating it instantly.

It seems the whole trouble before was just to protect this weapon to get close enough,

After seeing this, Sun Jiao discovered that those people are guards of the Sixth Street, cleaning the monsters that get too close to the Survival Camp.

So Hector was right and there’s nothing she can get from it. They are professionals, armed to their teeth with everything they need.

Hector is more curious about the monster.

“How did you guys classify the monsters around here?” He asks as the two calmly walk around the battlefield to the Survival Camp.

“Hm? By the crystals that they have on their bodies and by their weight.” Sun Jiao explains “Only an Elite and above forms a Crystal and we use an Energy Reader to guess their strength, if not we use their weight and size.”

“Weight, huh? Pretty simple, but I guess is realistic.” Hector comments while looking at the big monster that should weigh at least a dozen tons.

“By the way, a monster needs to at least weigh a ton before forming a crystal, unless some special ones. Like Deathclaws…” Sun Jiao says, casually explaining how the monsters can be used even to create vaccines and food.

“Deathclaws??” For some reason, the word attracted Hector's attention.

“Yes, Deathclaws… pretty dangerous. Just run if you think you are being followed by one.” She continues before they finally reach the front gate.

She can hear him muttering under his breath “This is really Fallout…But more convenient to me.”

At the gate, the show their Gene ID and enter without a problem. Their DNA did not show on their records as criminals, so it’s all good to go.

“In the inner part or in other bigger Survival Camps the entrance is a little more rigid, but the Sixth Streets pride themselves for being… free.” She says the last word with a strange tone.

“Uncivilized, you mean.” Hector scoffs while his face turns to some guards collecting dead bodies around the street like trash.

“It’s civilized on its own terms, just a little more harsh. Like the world beyond those walls.”  Sun Jiao says while Hector continues to look around, curious about everything.

He really looks a little like a kid or a country bumpkin, now Sun Jiao understands the mask… It’s probably to hide his reactions.

“There’s a Trading Center in this Outermost part, so we don’t need to go the inner wall. It also costs 1 unit energy of a Crystal only to enter.

She already explained to him how the currency works. Hector even found out that the energy of those crystals located inside the mutant monsters could power up his Dimensional Bracelet.

Sun Jiao watches Hector’s head moving around, drinking at the sights of the Sixth Street. The people dying on the sidewalks, the rich exchanging crystals, men full of prosthetics, and some girls…

“Interested in female slaves?” She asks with a mocking grin.

Hector gave a look to a group of six girls in revealing clothes chained together.

“So it’s that easy to have a female slave?” He asks back “Maybe I should buy one or two, to be maids… Then I would release them when I go away.” He says seriously

Sun Jiao gives him a look and continues with a sarcastic and acid tone “Then you have good taste, those girls are literally made for this.”

“Do you mean…?” He turns to her slowly

“Yeah, those ones are literally manufactured in the Survival Shelter 101. There is artificial intelligence that keeps the genes of many humans and is able to create them… It seems it started selling them some for some reason.” Sun Jiao explains with a hard look “They can even download the memories they want on those girls so that they could better serve their new masters…”

“A human farm, no… A human factory.” Hector mutters

“Yes.” She confirms, gauging his reaction but he looks unfazed, used, or maybe prepared for it. 

“And you said something about Shelter… 101?”

“Ah yes, there are many different of those that are made before the Nuclear Winter, each with a different philosophy…”

While she explains she hears Hector muttering “The author is really a Fallout fan…” But she ignores it as one of his many oddities.

They finally reach the Trading Center without a problem. It’s a huge place, like any other shop or a bank, but here the people sell their findings.

Moving to an empty desk, Hector puts his backpack in front of him and discreetly takes off one of his canned goods.

“Don’t.Overreact…” He almost hissed to the attendant.

But when she scanned it she realized a loud gasp that made everyone look at them.

“...” Now, even though he is using a maks, Hector's posture is clearly showing his anger to the attendant.

She must have felt it too because she shrunk her shoulders like he was gonna hit her.

“Forget about it…” He says “Let’s go to another place.” He quickly takes his canned food from her hand

“Ah! Wait! Sir!” The attendant grabs his sleeve, making him turn to her slowly, she looks desperate “Why don’t we move the negotiations to the VIP Room? We can give you a special offer! I’m sure that you will not regret it!” The woman appears to be on the verge of tears.

“...” Hector on the other hand looks very calm, he is facing the whole room, looking around. Sun Jiao noticed how his gaze stopped a tad more in certain people.

People that she can also guess are troublesome individuals.

“Lead the way…” Hector finally says and the attendant almost sagged in relief.

He and Sun Jiao start following her to the VIP Room, Sun Jiao doing her job as a bodyguard and watching their back and the people looking at them.

She can already see the trouble that can happen in the future….

Crack Crack Crack

When they enter the room, she hears some strange sounds of things being broken.

“Someone died here!” Someone shouts but it’s too late to turn around to see.

Hector doesn’t even bother to try to look…

……………………………………….

Sun Jiao left the Trading Center a little dizzy… Hector just received 1000 Crystals for his goods. A thousand!! Crystals!! Not units of energy, Crystals!

To put things in perspective, Sun Jiao had only 37 units of energy. That’s her whole fortune right now. This is not even an entire Crystal, after all a crystal can hold 100 units of energy, on average.

Her entire fortune is not even 0,1% of what Hector acquired just now.

If one unit is one dollar, Hector just gained 100.000 dollars.

But one unit is not only one dollar… One Unit can buy a room for the night, a prostitute, a magazine, a Type-C battery…

If converted to dollars in the modern world, it would be something like 10 million dollars. But is impossible to be accurate about it. The economy is too very different, the ways to gain money and everything…

In any case, he gained enough.

His money is enough to fund a small army or to live comfortably for years, indulging yourself without a care.

And all of that for 10 cans of food… He really hit the jackpot.

As he said, this world is like Fallout but much more convenient because he is a teleporter to a modern and comfortable world. Too easy, it’s like he bought the Battle Pass.

“Fish is pretty valuable here, huh?” Hector comments like is not a big deal. Like he is not suddenly pretty rich and a fat sheep to the criminals.

Sun Jiao looks around seeking any threat, the whole spectacle of the Trading Center can have consequences, she knows that some people keep an eye on them so that they can prey on the people who just received their crystals.

Luckily it seems that they are not being followed, the VIP Room has a special exit, so no one should have seen them leaving unless they have been looking for them since before entering the room.

It seems that they are lucky this time, even with the attendant…

“Do you know that those VIP rooms also provided some special service~?” She asks him with a small smile

“I imagined… prostitution is the oldest profession in the world.” Hector answered without a care.

“Are you not disappointed that I prevented the opportunity of receiving their hospitality? I bet that attendant was…” She continues.

The attendant would be able to receive some tips beyond the commission.

“Well, I would not be against a blowjob while talking business… And it would not affect my judgment anyway.” Hector says those words so casually that almost seems that he is talking about something else.

“Oh, and here I thought that you are a blushing virgin.” She teases

“I’m a virgin, but not a blushing one.” He continues to answer casually.

“...” That makes her pause “Wait… For real?”

“Yes, I rarely blush anymore.” He nods

“No! The other thing! Are you really a virgin?” She asks incredulously. Hector is a pretty handsome man, well built, rich and doesn’t have a scummy personality.

This makes him the top 0,001% of this post-apocalyptic world.

And ignoring all that and his positive traits, it’s very easy to get a woman around here.

A unit of energy crystal and we have one for the night, and thanks to all the advancements in genetics, even casual prostitutes are as beautiful as models.

Even that attendant was pretty cute.

“I can understand your surprise. Let’s say that I was busy…” He chuckles “But maybe you are right and I should wet my dick…” He continues casually

“Hmpf!” Sun Jiao suddenly scoffs and turns his face away from him “Pervert.”

“???” He gives her a puzzled look, she was the one talking about it for god’s sake, but remembering that women are inconsistent he only shakes his head and doesn’t argue “Just guide me to the vaccine clinic.”

“Ah yes, you don’t have the vaccines against T-Virus and other diseases.” She suddenly remembers.

But is because he is strong, and those vaccines are pretty cheap compared to the enhancement ones. So it would make sense that he would have all of them, the idea that he is strong like that naturally doesn’t even pass through her head.

“Just lead the way, I’m very interested in those serums and vaccines…”.