“Vice Leader Jax， the mutated beasts are still out there， and food is running low. How about you take it easy on the meat for now? Have a cockroach protein bar to hold you over?”

  Talan pulled out a black， rectangular protein bar.

  A few cockroach antennae stuck out faintly from it.

  This was the daily food of Wasteland survivors: cockroach protein bars!

  The simple packaging had rough words printed on it:

  Cockroach Protein Bar — tastes like a star!

  Fulfills your daily nutrition needs!

  — Cockroach Protein Workshop

  Jax took one look and flew into a rage. This stuff appeared all over the memories of his previous body. It was basic food. It looked disgusting， and sure enough， it tasted terrible.

  The flavor… was like a sweaty foot in a thin sock， stuffed inside a winter boot， running five kilometers in the snow， sealed up and left to rot until spring， then rubbed against your tongue.

  “I ate cockroach protein bars every day when I wasn’t Vice Leader. Now that I am Vice Leader， you still expect me to eat this? Then what’s the point of being Vice Leader?

  Take it away! Even a dog wouldn’t eat this garbage!”

  He swatted the protein bar off the table. It flew into the crowd， and people scrambled for it.

  Talan’s face darkened. He forced a stiff smile.

  “But… you used to eat them all the time.”

  Jax ignored his look， put an arm around Talan’s shoulders， and spoke earnestly.

  “Talan， do you know the first thing you do after you succeed?”

  “What?”

  “You forget where you came from! If you still act like you did before you succeeded， then what was the point of succeeding?!”

  Talan fell silent.

  “Relax， Talan. With me here， those mutated beasts are nothing. I can crush them with a flick of my finger. Then we’ll have all the meat we want. So don’t hold back now — let me eat well to recover my strength.

  Otherwise， when we fight the beasts， what if I don’t have enough life force to use the Breath of Bone?”

  “Right! Right! Vice Leader Jax is right! Someone， bring meat now!” Talan forced a smile， but inside he was seething. He decided he would kill Jax as soon as the boy defeated the mutated beasts.

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  Of course， if Jax used up too much life force shooting the beasts and died on his own， that would be even better. It would save Talan from being labeled a traitor.

  After stuffing himself， a satisfied Jax went to sleep in the room Talan had prepared. He was certainly not going back to his old shabby den. That was what forgetting your roots meant…

  Once he left， the Tire Tavern fell completely silent.

  Talan’s face turned grim， killing intent flashing in his eyes now and then. His men could feel his anger and dared not speak.

  One of his closest aides stepped quietly forward and whispered.

  “Boss， Jax is relying on the Forbidden Artifact and showing you no respect at all.”

  Bang!

  Talan slammed his fist on the table.

  “No respect?! He doesn’t see me， Boar Talan， as anything at all!”

  As he shouted， the hair on his body stood up， turning black and stiff like wild boar bristles. A fierce， beastly aura spread out.

  Two faint streams of white air breathed from his nostrils.

  Everyone quickly knelt down.

  “Calm down， boss! You’re a genetically modified warrior who injected gene serum… That boy is just a normal human relying on an external object.

  Once he shoots the beasts， his life force will be drained， and he won’t be able to fire again. Then we can do whatever we want with him.”

  “Hmph!” Talan’s expression softened slightly. His men had read his mind， but as leader， he couldn’t agree openly. He had to keep up his image.

  “I wanted to become brothers with Jax and rule the East District together. But after getting the Forbidden Artifact， he’s become arrogant and reckless. He’s greedy and unstable… If he rules with me， he’ll bring ruin to our people.

  For the future of our brothers， and for all the people of the East District， I， Talan， would rather bear the name of a traitor than keep my promise.”

  “Boss， you are righteous!”

  “We will follow you to the death!”

  ---

  Inside a worn brick house， Jax stood naked in front of a mirror after bathing.

  He stroked his chin and studied himself.

  “Not bad. Handsome， just the right amount.”

  In the mirror， the boy’s messy black hair fell over his eyes， as if deliberately hiding those sharp， wolfish black eyes.

  A fresh scratch ran across his high nose， still crusted with blood. The injury didn’t ruin his looks; it only added a wild edge.

  He was tall and lean， his skin pale from malnutrition.

  This was the first time Jax had really looked at himself. Clean water was rare， so everyone was usually dirty and unkempt — most people in Ashwood Town， anyway， except for those in special jobs.

  Now that Talan was covering for him， he could finally bathe properly.

  “If I had to guess， Talan is probably planning how to kill me right now. Tsk… Talan really is a piece of work.”

  Jax didn’t care about Talan’s threats. Bonding with the artifact had only taken ten seconds… He still had fifty seconds of Time Stop left. Killing Talan would be easy， even if he was a genetically modified warrior.

  No matter how modified his genes were， he was still a carbon-based life… bristles or not， his throat， lower body， and eyes were all fatal weak points.

  Jax lay on the bed， playing with the Breath of Bone， a faint smile on his lips.

  “Perfect bonding. A pleasant surprise.”

  Most people only knew Forbidden Artifacts could be bonded， but few knew there were two levels: normal bonding and perfect bonding.

  As a former Wasteland hunter， Jax had met many wanderers. They weren’t always strong， but they had endless experience and stories. He had learned this from them.

  Put simply， normal bonding meant the user met the artifact’s demands， and the artifact would serve them — like an employer hiring a worker. The worker obeyed， but they didn’t share the same heart.

  Perfect bonding was like gaining a loyal follower， completely devoted， body and soul.

  Jax’s six-bullet gamble had achieved perfect bonding with the Breath of Bone.

  The artifact’s ability was simple: it drained the user’s life force， infused it into bullets， and greatly increased their power. Normal guns could barely break the mutated beasts’ thick skin…

  Even if they did， they rarely caused serious damage. The Breath of Bone could pierce their defenses easily and kill them.

  Because it drained life force， using the Breath of Bone was extremely harmful to the body. Fire too many times， and you could be completely drained and die.

  But Jax， with perfect bonding， was different. He still lost life force when firing， but whenever the Breath of Bone killed an enemy， it fed the stolen life force back to him… In this way， he would not weaken — he would grow stronger with every fight.

  After playing with the gun for a long while， Jax lay down on the soft bed and fell into a deep sleep.

  In contrast to his comfort， Ryker the Sleight of Hand， who had gambled against him， was suffering a completely different fate.