A shadow flickered in Tan Jie's eyes. As the East District Commander, he was nothing more than an ant in the eyes of the colossal Dawn City. If war were to break out, Graysoil Town would be nothing but cannon fodder.

Wang She continued, "Have you considered that the sudden appearance of the hyena pack might be related to Dawn City?"

"Oh? What do you mean by that?"

"Deputy Commander Bai has arrived!" A loud voice rang out in the Tire Tavern.

Dozens of eyes turned to the entrance, where the frail Bai Ye slowly walked in, supported by a subordinate.

The subordinate, blushing, whispered, "Deputy Commander Bai, I've announced your arrival as you instructed. Don't forget to reward me with a piece of meat later."

Feeling the eyes of everyone on him, Bai Ye patted the subordinate's shoulder with satisfaction. "Don't worry, I've already forgotten."

"What!?"

"Deputy Commander Bai, you're finally here. How are you? Feeling alright?" Tan Jie greeted him with a broad smile, personally helping Bai Ye to a seat.

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"Do I look alright to you?" Bai Ye glared at Tan Jie in displeasure.

Tan Jie wasn't bothered. Ever since he accepted that Bai Ye was a madman, his mindset had improved remarkably.

Being scolded by Bai Ye was nothing; even after being slapped a dozen times before, he didn't get angry.

"Let's sit and talk, sit and talk."

Bai Ye sat directly between Tan Jie and Wang She, exuding an air of authority.

"What are you standing around for? Hurry up and bring the wine and meat!"

Soon, the wine and meat were served. The meat was charred and cooked with no culinary skill, relying solely on the most primitive ingredients.

But Bai Ye ate with relish. He couldn't help it; this body had rarely had a full meal.

"Eat slowly, don't choke," Tan Jie said with a smile, pouring wine. Watching Bai Ye eat meat no longer pained him; he wished Bai Ye would eat more to replenish his qi and blood.

This kid really fought like he had nothing to lose!

While eating, Bai Ye mumbled, "What were you two talking about just now? Were you secretly badmouthing me?"

"How could that be? You're a hero; we can't praise you enough."

"We were just discussing the hyena pack," Wang She chimed in. "The sudden appearance of the hyena pack makes me suspect it has something to do with Dawn City's recent movements."

"Oh?" Bai Ye raised an eyebrow. "Tell me more."

He had, of course, heard of Dawn City. To be precise, almost no one in Graysoil Town hadn't heard of it. It was a sacred place in the hearts of Graysoil Town's residents.

Rumor had it that everyone there had food to eat, schools to attend, clean water to bathe in every day, and the women were all stunningly beautiful, with smooth, fair skin, unlike the rough-skinned Wastelanders, who were weathered by the elements.

"It's like this," Wang She organized his thoughts and spoke slowly. "Recently, Dawn City has been frequently deploying its army and slave-catching squads, aggressively seizing the populations of various towns, seemingly preparing for war."

Bai Ye nodded. The Wasteland wasn't home to just one large city like Dawn City. A hundred years had passed since the Great Cataclysm, and in that time, humanity had recuperated, with large cities springing up across the Wasteland, each power vying for dominance.

"What does this have to do with the hyena pack?"

"From what I know, the hyena pack originally roamed near Black Mountain. Although they've mutated into mutant beasts, they still retain animal instincts and territorial awareness, so they usually wouldn't leave Black Mountain.

Now that they've suddenly appeared in Graysoil Town, I suspect something has happened at Black Mountain. When I was trading supplies in Dawn City, I overheard people talking about how Dawn City's army frequently entered Black Mountain. So I think Dawn City wants to occupy Black Mountain as a strategic point in preparation for war," Wang She explained.

"Does it have to be war? Maybe Dawn City is just trying to clear out the mutant beasts on Black Mountain?"

Tan Jie scoffed, "Deputy Commander Bai, you really overestimate Dawn City. You haven't been there, so you don't know what those people are like. Compared to the Wastelanders who live by the sword, the city folks are the real predators.

Those big shots would never do anything without profit. If the major powers united to deal with the mutant beasts, those damned creatures would have been wiped out long ago.

It's precisely because of their constant infighting that no one wants to waste troops clearing mutant beasts outside their territory.

Some powers even deliberately keep mutant beasts around as a buffer between themselves and other powers."

Bai Ye smiled slightly. It fit perfectly with his preconceived notions of humanity.

"Alright, enough about that," Wang She changed the subject. "We can't concern ourselves with the affairs of those big shots. The urgent matter is to deal with the hyena pack.

Deputy Commander Bai, can you continue fighting tomorrow?"

"I can! I must!" Bai Ye was already eager.

"No, no, no..." Tan Jie quickly stopped him. "You've overexerted yourself today. You should rest for a day. Actually, Graysoil Town's food supply can last a few more days; there's no rush."

He was genuinely afraid that Bai Ye might drop dead in the middle of a fight. Who would take down the Hyena King then?

Didn't he see that Bai Ye needed help just to walk now?

"Old Tan!" Bai Ye slammed the table, his voice booming over the tavern's noise.

Everyone in the tavern paused, looking towards the three commanders, and the atmosphere suddenly quieted.

Seeing this familiar stance, Tan Jie felt a headache coming on. "Deputy Commander Bai, you..."

"What do you mean, me! As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot..."

"Stop, stop, you have too many sayings. I can't argue with you, but don't forget, I'm the Commander! You must rest tomorrow!" Tan Jie insisted.

Bai Ye stared at Tan Jie, enunciating each word, "Old Tan, you'll regret this!"

With that, he picked up his wine and meat and stormed off.

"Hey, hey, hey, someone, help support Deputy Commander Bai!"

...

Night fell.

Bai Ye lay comfortably in bed, his mind replaying the conversation with Tan Jie and Wang She.

War was coming!

A sense of crisis arose. War wasn't a dinner party; it was guns and bullets!

He could stop time, but the question was whether he could do it in time.

Bullets traveled faster than his thoughts. In a real battle, with thousands of soldiers firing, even a minute wouldn't be enough to escape the battlefield.

Besides bullets, there were cannons, sniper rifles, tanks...

In the chaos of battle, he couldn't keep time stopped indefinitely; there wasn't enough time for that.

Graysoil Town was nominally under Dawn City's jurisdiction. When war began, would other powers spare Graysoil Town?

What if one day, while sleeping, a few shells suddenly fell from the sky, and he hadn't even activated Time Stop before dying? Who could he complain to?

Even if he stayed vigilant, assuming he was alert enough to detect all attacks in advance and used Time Stop to dodge them, how many times could he dodge? He couldn't waste all his time on this, could he?

Damn, this Wasteland is too unsafe. I need to find a safe place to accumulate time!

With this thought, Bai Ye became interested in Dawn City. If he could enter Dawn City, it would be much safer than the Wasteland. Even if war broke out, the citizens of Dawn City would be the last to suffer.

At that point, he could escape early, rather than living in constant fear on the Wasteland, facing mutant beasts today, guns and cannons tomorrow, and food shortages the day after.