The heated meat market was immediately frozen.

The customers who were drooling just now seemed to have a lump of wet hair stuck in their throat. They could not utter a single sound.

The boy managed to turn his face and saw a very “wet” man.

Ignoring the cobra-like lumps on his forehead, the man was actually quite decent, but his sweat glands seemed to be affected by radiation. Yellow sweat was flowing out all the time. Illuminated by the lackluster sunlight, it looked like a layer of brown scales.

“Snake—Master Snake…”

The butcher, who had been so confident a moment ago, was now at a loss and stammering as he explained, “I—I didn’t know that you weren’t planning to sell it. This sheep was brought by Fourth Brother. He said—he said—”

“Yes, Master Snake.”

The boy looked at the muscular man who had just tied him up. The muscular man bowed in front of ‘Master Snake’ and said with a flattering smile, “This kid cheated in our casino for three days in a row. Today, he was caught red-handed. According to the rules, he has to compensate for his losses. Check his pockets. He doesn’t have a single bullet. His chips were all stolen. His body of good meat is worth some money. So…”

“Oh.”

Master Snake smiled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

‘Fourth Brother’s’ face suddenly turned paler than that of a butcher’s. His legs were shivering, and his voice was even more twisted. “I—this—this old man has been busy making deals with the Black Ghost Gang over the past few days. I thought that I shouldn’t bother—”

“Shh…”

Master Snake put one of his long, thin fingers on his thin lips and blew at ‘Fourth Brother’. He smiled and said, “Fourth Brother, what does Master Snake hate most?”

“An excuse.”

‘Fourth Brother’ swallowed hard and said in a shivering voice, “I hate excuses the most.

“Very good.”

Master Snake stopped looking at him. He narrowed his eyes and glanced at the butcher with half of his cold eyes, while the other half was distributed to all the customers. He said casually, “Let me repeat myself. This sheep is not for sale. Is there a problem?”

Nothing.

Everyone in Tombstone Town knew that there were two things that Master Snake, the big boss of the ‘Heavenly Wolf Gambling Den’, hated the most.

Excuses.

And questions.

“Master Snake, can—can you please bring this sheep back? I really don’t know!”

With a crying face, the butcher said, “I’ll offer you another 50 pounds of double-headed beef. Don’t feel that it’s too little. Recently, the acid rain outside has been too fierce, and the meat is not easy to handle…”

“No need. Those who don’t know are not guilty. It’s not your fault.”

Master Snake smiled. He grabbed the boy’s ankle with one hand and picked him up, as if he were a newborn lamb. “What happened today was the fault of the staff of the casino. We delayed your business for half a day. Take fifty chips from the casino tonight as a gift from me.”

“Thank you, Master Snake. Thank you, thank you!”

The butcher’s eyes were beaming with joy when he heard ‘cash’. His face was shivering, and he was drooling like the other customers.

“Don’t thank me. You should thank ‘justice’.”

Master Snake said, “Everybody in Tombstone Town and the Furious Blood Wasteland knows that justice is my favorite.”

Having said this, the Snake Lord carried the boy upside down and walked out as if there was no one else.

The crowd was like a divided tide as they made way for them one after another. Although many of them were making “cuckoo” sounds from their throats as they looked at the boy with bloodshot eyes, no one dared to say a single “no”.

However, there were always exceptions.

“Hey, it’s rare to find such a good sheep. We’ve been waiting for such a long time, and you are not letting us cut any meat at all. The way that Tombstone Town does things is too unreasonable!”

BAM!

A muscular man wearing a level 3 armor with tattoos all over his face blocked in front of Uncle Snake. He threw a thick canvas backpack on the ground. It was heavy inside, filled with wrecked cars and steel springs and freshly sharpened blades.

Spring steel was the best raw material for sabers, especially the spring steel of heavy trucks. Together with the Zhanmadao, which had advanced by leaps and bounds after the nuclear war, the combination of hardness and softness could really cut most of the plate armor in half.

Therefore, it was a hard currency in the desert just like bullets.

“I have plenty of money!”

The muscular man with tattoos all over his face stared at the boy’s hand and licked his lips. “His life is mine. I only want one of his hands!”

Master Snake looked at the muscular man.

The muscular man looked at Master Snake impudently. His two companions behind him also tightened their backpacks that were filled with spring steel and gripped their sabers and pistols.

“You are the iron merchants of ‘Steel Flower City’.

Master Snake laughed. “The ‘Scrap Iron Gang’, right?”

“That’s right.”

The tattooed man was quite satisfied. “The materials of the Scrap Metal Gang can be used to forge the fastest saber in the Furious Blood Wasteland!”

“Oh.”

Master Snake nodded. “You want hands?”

“I want to!”

The tattooed man said stubbornly, “We have money. We’ve been living in the desert for half a month. Today, we are going to eat a hand!”

“Understood.”

Without looking back, Master Snake said, “Fourth Brother, give me the dagger. Let the friends from Iron Flower City know the hospitality of Tombstone Town.”

“Yes, Master Snake.”

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‘Fourth Brother’ didn’t know what Master Snake was up to, but he reacted quickly because of his guilt and fear. His hands touched a delicate dagger that was wrapped in the skin of a calf.

Nobody saw what happened next. Nobody expected it.

Shua! Shua! Chi!

After three sounds that were even softer than the rustling of willow leaves, the scorpion-shell saber on the tattooed man’s waist was empty. The fourth brother’s left hand flew high into the air, only to be pierced through by a sharp and swift saber in the palm of his hand, which was firmly held by Master Snake.

Everyone’s face turned extremely ugly.

The tattooed man looked at the empty sheath on his waist, his face ashen.

The scrap iron helped him forge his own saber. If he could forge the fastest saber in the Furious Blood Wasteland, he would naturally be able to wield the saber at the fastest speed.

But his saber was in the hands of Master Snake, and he didn’t see what was going on at all.

‘Fourth Brother’ was even more dumbfounded as he stared at his left arm, which had been cut off at the wrist. He was drenched in sweat and did not dare to utter a single word.

Now that Master Snake was going to chop off his hand, he was even guilty of spurting blood.

“Please.”

Slowly, slowly, Master Snake handed over his opponent’s saber and ‘Fourth Brother’s’ left hand. “Your hand.”

The tattooed man’s lips moved. Like his fourth brother, sweat appeared on his forehead. He glanced at the boy who was still being carried by Master Snake and did not say anything.

“I know that you want to eat the lamb’s hand because the meat of this hand is too old, but let me tell you something. The owner of this hand used to be the best watcher of the Heavenly Wolf Gambling Den. His hand was soaked in medicine every day and warmed up countless times. Every piece of meat is alive and not old at all. It is also chewy and delicious.

Looking at the tattooed man, Master Snake almost stabbed the tip of his saber into the man’s nose. “Justice. Master Snake is absolutely just when doing things.”

“Thank you…”

The tattooed man looked at the shining tip of the saber and said dejectedly, “Thank you, Master Snake. Then, then we will take this hand. How much, how much?”

“Fifty springs of steel.”

Master Snake said.

“What?”

The tattooed man’s eyes went wide. “Master Snake, it’s not that we can’t afford it, but do you know how many blades can be forged from fifty springs? Do you know how many hands can be chopped off? Let’s talk about the price!”

“Alright, a hundred springs.”

Master Snake said.

“T-this!”

The tattooed man was trembling. “Master Snake, our Scrap Metal Gang—”

“Two hundred springs.”

Master Snake smiled. “This is my last offer. But not one hand. Seven hands. Seven hands. Two hundred pieces of spring steel. A fair price.”

While laughing, Master Snake observed the hands of the tattooed man and his two companions.

The three scrap iron gang members each had two hands, which added up to six.

Six hands of the Scrap Metal Gang and one of ‘Fourth Brother’ were exactly seven hands.

The tattooed man understood.

Looking at Master Snake, looking at the saber in his hand and the hand on the saber, and looking at the malicious eyes around him, he gritted his teeth and managed to say, “…Alright, deal. But there are only fifty of them here. The rest of the stock is in the warehouse of the gang.”

“It’s alright. I believe you.”

Master Snake said, “Those who like to eat hands have very good taste. Those who have good taste will never have a bad reputation. We are all good friends. Tombstone Town welcomes all the distinguished guests. If you have time tonight, why don’t you go to the Heavenly Wolf Casino and have a seat? Each person will have 100 chips. Master Snake will give it to you for free. If you are lucky, you might be able to win back 200 spring steel overnight.”

The eyes of the three members of the scrap metal gang lit up just like the butcher’s.

“Rest assured. Nobody dares to play any tricks in the Sirius Gambling Den.

Master Snake shook the boy in his hand. “Unless he wants to become meat on a chopping block.”

“Understood.”

The tattooed man said somewhat remorsefully, “Master Snake’s justice is well known even in Iron Flower City.”

Master Snake smiled. He kicked the spring steel on the ground and shouted, “Butcher, come here. Let’s see how much steel we have here. We’ll trade it for meat and share it with everybody here. Consider it compensation for your loss. Come to the casino after you’re done eating. Put ten chips on Master Snake’s tab!”

Everyone inside and outside of the meat market immediately burst into cheers.

…

The boy was carried by Master Snake and left the meat market.

The whole world was upside down. The lead clouds and the purple sun seemed to have turned into a staggering ocean, and the stinky, thick earth turned into a dark sky.

They passed by ‘Old John’s Car’, which was adding plate armor and collision thorns to the off-road vehicles, passed by the tent where the underground fighting was taking place, passed by the saber shop of the Black Ghost Gang, which was emitting earsplitting noises all day long, and passed by the workshop where dozens of pots of oil and grease were being cooked.

There were people with abscesses, people with lumps, people with scales and sharp claws, people in bloody clothes, people who were strutting in armor and carrying shotguns, and people whose hair was disheveled were asking the deities to possess them.

In the end, the boy was captured and dragged back to the starting point of the meat market, the Heaven Wolves Casino.

The boy was already scared to the point that his head was dizzy from being carried upside down. He was simply unable to think.

When he gradually recovered, he discovered that he had been brought to a room in the deepest part of the casino that he had never seen before.

“Crack.”

Master Snake locked the door. They were alone in the room. The only ventilation window had been welded shut by iron bars.

There was also a cabinet, a TV, and a bed.

The bed was large and comfortable.