The NO.1 Food Stall in the Wasteland

After leaving Shen Lu’s stall, Bai Wanwan hurried to the parking lot at the end of the street. Her movements were smooth as she unlocked her car, slid in, and started the engine. She slammed on the gas and drove straight home.

Before getting out of the car, she tossed her sunglasses, mask, and other junk onto the passenger seat. She planned to finish her food before heading inside.

The egg waffle had cooled a little after sitting for a while, and it no longer smelled as sweet as it did fresh off the griddle.

But that didn’t detract from the taste.

Just as she took her first bite, someone knocked on her car window.

Bai Wanwan looked up. It was her pain-in-the-neck little brother, Bai Lei!

"Sis, sis!" Bai Lei tapped insistently on the window. "I know you’re in there, Sis! Please? Just let me take your car out for one spin!"

"You’re the best, Sis!"

"Just one spin! I promise I’ll be back within half an hour, and I definitely won’t damage your car."

Bai Wanwan was getting really annoyed. She didn’t understand why her parents bothered having Bai Lei when they already had her.

’Wasn’t their little princess enough for them?’

Still, Father Bai and Mrs. Bai doted on Bai Wanwan more. While both siblings were huge fans of Dog Hero, they had only bought the matching sports car for Bai Wanwan.

Bai Lei was dying of envy, but there was nothing he could do.

His only option for getting a taste of the action was to shamelessly beg Bai Wanwan.

"Bai Lei!" Bai Wanwan rolled down her window and poked him on the forehead. "You are so annoying! The second I get home, you start pestering me about the car. You’re nagging my ears off!"

"Sis, just let me—" Bai Lei stopped mid-sentence, cut off by the irresistible aroma wafting out from the car.

His nostrils twitched, his gaze locking onto the egg waffle in Bai Wanwan’s hand.

"Hey, don’t—" It was too late. Before Bai Wanwan could react, Bai Lei had already snatched the egg waffle from her.

"Don’t you dare eat that!" Bai Wanwan shrieked, leaning halfway out the window to grab it back.

But she was no match for him. Bai Lei was a Level 3 Wind Ability User. With a casual gust of wind, he shot back more than ten meters.

CHOMP!

He took a huge bite, devouring more than half of it in one go. His round, puppy-dog eyes instantly went wide.

’So delicious!’

’Waaah, Sis is eating good food without me again!’

Bai Wanwan could only watch in horror as her brother polished off the egg waffle she’d gone to such trouble to buy. She was so furious her hair felt like it was standing on end.

"Bai! Lei!"

Bai Wanwan jumped out of the car, lunged over, and grabbed her brother by the neck, shaking him furiously. "You spit that out! Spit it out, you hear me! Aaaah!"

Bai Lei let his sister grab his neck; with her meager strength, she couldn’t hurt him anyway.

"Don’t be mad, Sis. This egg waffle is amazing! And my head feels so clear after eating it." Bai Lei grabbed his sister’s wrists. "Where’d you buy it? Can we go get some more? No, I want to buy out their entire stock!"

That only made Bai Wanwan angrier. "She’s already closed up for the day!"

"Closed up? You bought this from a street stall? There are street stalls in the Upper City District now? I thought that was just a Lower City District thing."

Struck speechless, Bai Wanwan irritably shook off her brother’s hand. Pouting, she stomped back to her room.

Bai Lei followed right behind her, only to have the door mercilessly slammed in his face.

"Sis?"

"Sis!"

"C’mon, Sis, open the door! Or don’t, that’s fine too, just tell me where you bought the egg waffle!"

"If you won’t let me borrow the car, you can at least tell me where to get the egg waffles, right?"

"We’ve been siblings for over a decade. After all these years, you can’t do this one little thing for me?"

"Sis, I’m begging you, just tell me. Say something!"

"Really not telling me? Fine, then I’m going to ask your friends."

’After all, he knew all her friends. He even had the contact info for the ones he got along with.’

The door flew open. Bai Wanwan, her face livid, yanked Bai Lei inside and clamped a hand down on his wrist, stopping him from activating his Light Brain.

"Just knock it off!"

’Ask them? As if!’

’If she let Bai Lei go around asking, everyone would find out she’d gone to the Lower City District.’

’Whatever, it’s probably fine to tell him. He is my brother, after all.’

"I can tell you, but you can’t tell anyone. And you definitely can’t let it slip that I was the one who went. Got it?!"

Bai Lei nodded. "I promise I won’t tell anyone!"

"You remember Shen Lu, right?" Bai Wanwan tossed her hair, a little unnaturally. "I bought it from her."

"Shen Lu? Isn’t she your arch-nemesis?" Bai Lei’s eyes widened. "Besides, wasn’t she kicked out to the Lower City District by the Shen Family? You actually went to the Lower City District?"

"So what if I went to the Lower City District? Is there a rule against it?" Bai Wanwan huffed.

Only people from the Lower City District needed a pass to enter the Upper City District, but people from the Upper City District didn’t need one to go to the Lower City District.

"I didn’t mean it like that." Bai Lei scratched the back of his head. "I’m just surprised. I never thought you and Shen Lu were frenemies."

’He’d always thought his sister despised Shen Lu. He figured she’d be gloating over Shen Lu’s downfall, not going all the way to the Lower City District to find her and even buy something from her.’

"Don’t get the wrong idea. I still don’t like her," Bai Wanwan said, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, just go look for her on Gold Street around noon or in the afternoon. There, I told you the time and place. Now get out. You’re an eyesore."

Bai Wanwan shoved her brother out of the room, adding one last worried warning, "You can’t tell anyone about this!"

"Got it, Sis." Bai Lei said with a cheeky grin. "So... can I borrow the car too? You’re not using it right now, anyway."

Bai Wanwan tossed the keys at him. "Fine! Now get lost."

"Alrighty!"

Bai Lei caught the keys and went downstairs happily.

’A stall run by Shen Lu?’ Bai Lei mused, twirling the keys as he walked to the car. ’I don’t have class tomorrow afternoon. I should go check it out.’

...

After a busy day, Shen Lu dragged her exhausted body to the public bathhouse for a shower.

Phew...

Stepping out of the bathhouse, she let out a long sigh.

’The ultrasonic shower machine certainly got her clean, but Shen Lu was desperately craving a real, hot bath.’

She picked up her pace and headed for her rented apartment.

The sun was setting in the west, and its lingering rays blanketed the street. The light cast a strange, cozy beauty over the dilapidated and grimy roads.

Shen Lu walked quickly. It wasn’t just because of the disgusting stares that clung to her, but also because she remembered Wang Daguo’s warning that the Lower City District had been unsafe lately.

She wasn’t too scared, since she had a stun gun. Still, she’d never used it on a Superpower User, so she had no idea how effective it would be.

’It could probably handle a Level 1 or Level 2 Superpower User,’ Shen Lu guessed, ’but she wasn’t so sure about anyone stronger.’

Superpower Users here were divided into ten levels; the stronger the ability, the higher the level.

However, the highest-ranking Superpower User in the Empire was currently only Level 9. No one had ever been heard of breaking through to Superpower Level 10.

As she reached the corner of the Seventeenth District, Shen Lu spotted a familiar figure by the side of the road.

As she got closer, she saw it was Zeng Xiaodao.

He was severely injured, kneeling against a wall with his right hand clamped over his left arm. DRIP, DRIP, DRIP. Blood pooled on the ground beneath him.

"You got in another fight?"

Shen Lu frowned, looking around warily, but saw no one chasing him.

"Don’t worry." The words seemed to be squeezed from between his teeth. "She’s already dead. Can you help me?"