Chapter 54: The Brainwashing Overseers and the Anti-Brainwashing Ximu…

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Su Ximu ran right up and bumped straight into his brothers, who were just getting ready to jump down from the truck.

His big brothers’ legs were much longer than his at home, and the truck was huge. It took the big brother’s help for the middle brother to get down from the truck.

The big brother usually didn’t speak and rarely reacted to anyone.

But Su Ximu was always confident that sometimes when he spoke, the big brother was listening.

The little guy came with his bundle in tow, his little face flushed red as he hugged the brothers who had just gotten off the truck. He looked up, his voice still carrying the tender clarity rare in the Wasteland World: “Brothers, where are you going? I’m coming with you.”

“We are family~”

Family meant they went everywhere together, never apart.

242 hugged him back and let out a soft hum. He must have understood.

243 happily grabbed his little brother’s hand and shook it while fussing with “Su Ximu”

He didn’t know where they were going either.

But he wanted to go with his little brother.

And so, the brothers who had just gotten off the truck started grunting and struggling to climb back on.

Getting off was easy, but getting back on was hard. Facing the massive truck like a steel beast, even 242 struggled to climb up on his own.

They had gotten on earlier with a ladder extended from the truck. But now the truck was turned off, so there was no ladder.

Finally, Su Ximu raised his hands to the big brother: “Big Brother, carry me up.”

241 might not have understood the words, but he got the gesture. He reached out, one hand under the head and one under the butt, and lifted the little guy onto the truck.

After the little guy got on by himself, he didn’t forget to keep assigning tasks to the big brother: “Big Brother, carry Brother and Middle Brother up too~”

241 looked down, paused for two seconds, then grabbed one in each hand and hauled them all up.

From this, it was clear the researchers’ previous test results had some basis.

When the driver led the others back, what he saw was the three brothers still silently hunching in the corner of the truck bed.

He shooed the remaining two adults who could climb up on their own onto the truck, didn’t even warn them not to run, and went straight back to the cab to start the vehicle.

In the truck bed, Su Ximu, tucked into the little corner surrounded by his brothers, quietly poked his head out.

The other two people sitting not far away had vacant, dazed stares. Even though they clearly saw the little guy suddenly pop out, they reacted just like 241, 242, and 243 had half a year ago—like he was air, with no other response.

The truck didn’t go very fast. Su Ximu, peeking out from the corner, watched the scenery outside the truck bed receding and suddenly felt it was familiar.

He quietly said to his brothers: “Brothers, I think I know where the truck is going.”

It was the road to the other side of the wall.

He had walked it several times.

After saying that, the little guy looked a bit happy.

Because a child’s thoughts were simple.

He figured that even if he hadn’t seen his brothers today and they had been taken away directly, he wouldn’t have lost them forever.

The truck drove a good while longer until a gate appeared at the end of the road. It looked majestic at first glance but decayed upon closer inspection.

Su Ximu had always gone to the other side of the wall by passing straight through it before. This was the first time he saw the gate in the wall.

The truck drove unimpeded through the gate and continued for about half an hour.

This bumpy ride finally reached its destination.

The destination had a simple entrance with Wasteland World script above it: Education Field 104.

Once inside Education Field 104, the expanse of tin shacks all around almost made it seem like the truck had circled back to the outskirts of District 13.

But on closer look, these tin shacks were a bit different.

The most obvious difference was that this place was much livelier than the outer residential district.

The residents on the outskirts rarely went out if they had nothing to do.

But here, every single resident was forcibly called out of their shacks.

The vast area was square-shaped. At each of the four corners of the square, iron bars enclosed off sections.

In each section, at least ten people fought. No rules, no limits—just those who got up to keep fighting and those already down.

Nearby, overseers in white uniforms observed something, occasionally jotting notes with pens.

It was a perfect picture of a gladiator arena.

Ironically, right next to the gladiator arena was a building like a school.

The students had just finished class and were being herded into the gladiator arena by their teachers.

The driver parked the truck at the southeast corner, got out of the cab, and soon some Education Field overseers came over.

By then, Su Ximu had smartly slung his little bundle on his back, ignored the iron partition between the truck bed and cab, crawled from the bed straight into the cab, and prepared to get out just like the driver.

The cab was a blind spot. The little guy carefully probed with his foot, confirmed the first rung of the ladder, got both feet steady on it, then tried the second.

At the rear of the truck, the Education Field 104 overseers received the five new Outer District residents.

One overseer with a folder checked his data and nodded at the three brothers who had already gotten off.

“They have high conversion rates. Skip the initial gladiator stage and send them straight to Intelligence Opening.”

As for the other two, their conversion rates weren’t high, so they followed the normal process.

The driver didn’t care about any of that. He handed over a receipt form and gestured for the overseer to sign.

Once signed, he drove off, kicking up dust.

The overseer, slightly choked by the dust, squinted at the departing vehicle and spat on the ground.

In a bad mood, he didn’t bother saying more and led the new arrivals toward the central area.

After walking about twenty minutes, the overseer pointed to an empty tin shack and gestured for 241 and the others to go in.

After the three went inside, he took the other two to the next empty room.

He never noticed the little tail that had followed him the whole way.

Someone behind him did see, but unfortunately, it wasn’t another overseer. In this Education Field, besides the overseers, no one wanted to talk voluntarily.

Su Ximu hugged his little bundle and hid in a corner for another ten minutes before quietly slipping into their new home.

The second he entered the new home, he was hugged by his middle brother and little brother. The big brother also looked toward him.

243 tried hard to express his feelings: “So… so worried! So scared, afraid!”

Worried that his tiny little brother could follow on his own.

Scared that his little brother would be discovered and taken away.

But no matter how anxious he felt inside, he didn’t dare move.

He had somehow intuitively grasped that “impulsiveness ruins things.”

Su Ximu, as the person involved, didn’t feel scared at all. He thought his actions were perfect.

Just as he could run off to a strange place alone to find medicine for his brothers, when it came to things he wanted to do, his courage was exceptionally big.

He hugged his middle brother and little brother back, comforting them: “No need to be scared~”

Then, the little guy gave himself a thumbs-up, praising: “Star Treasure, so awesome! Super impressive!”

That’s how Grandma used to praise him.

Seeing this, 243 looked down at his own fingers and gave a thumbs-up too.

242 leaned down and gently combed the little guy’s messy hair from all the activity.

Su Ximu felt his brother gently stroking his head over and over. It felt nice, so he couldn’t help setting down his bundle, pulling his brother to sit on the ground, and resting his little head on his brother’s knee.

He made his request: “Brother, want back pats.”

And check the ears, then finally hold and sleep.

Having left his real family at such a young age had its downsides—like the little guy sometimes suffering from skin hunger.

If he didn’t get the hugs and pats he craved, his mood would sink.

As for checking ears, what the little guy really meant was ear cleaning.

He always remembered a scene: in spring, Grandma took him to sunbathe on the little bamboo bed outside the house. Grandma would have him lie there and clean his ears.

Ear cleaning felt great, the sun was warm and nice, and Grandma smelled good.

There was no ear pick here, but 242 already knew how to “check the ears.”

He moved just like a gorilla picking lice off its young, rummaging around the little guy’s ears, hair, and neck with both hands, lulling the little guy—who had been on edge all day—straight to sleepiness.

But he held back from sleeping.

Because he didn’t feel safe in the new environment.

He vaguely knew now that he couldn’t let those seemingly normal people discover him.

In this world, the seemingly normal people were the most abnormal. They grabbed people and cut them up!

So, he already had an idea for where to sleep that night.

He needed a very safe spot where no one would find him.

Like inside the wall.

He could sleep half his body in the wall and half outside, with his brother holding him facing the wall.

That way, even if someone suddenly came in, they wouldn’t find him.

With that thought, the little guy yawned, fought off sleepiness, and started crawling toward the corner.

In the process, he suddenly bumped into something. It felt like a book.

This was the first time he had encountered a book in this world.

Suddenly no longer sleepy, he sat right there, spread the book open under the still-lit light, and started looking.

Wasteland World script wasn’t the same as Blue Star World’s.

And even with his own world’s writing, Su Ximu—as a child without even elementary school education—couldn’t read much.

Luckily, the book had illustrations.

Su Ximu spread the book on his lap and seriously studied the pictures.

The first page had four illustrations total.

The content was simple. Even without knowing the words, he instantly got the gist.

The first picture showed a person in white robes and a monster covered in gray mist.

The second picture had people dressed like researchers and overseers standing behind the white-robed person.

The third picture showed the monster charging. The white-robed person protected those behind, bravely meeting the monster head-on.

The fourth picture showed the white-robed person dead on the ground, but with a standard smile on his lips.

After reading the book, Su Ximu pondered. The white-robed people were like his brothers.

The meaning of the pictures was that his brothers had to protect the researchers and overseers… even if they died, they would be happy.

Thinking of that, the little guy slammed the book shut and smacked it hard.

Bad book!

This world not only had bad people, but bad books too!

Bad books taught his brothers to protect the bad people who hurt them! And to be happy even in death!

Wrong! Only protecting people who were good to you, people you loved, would make death okay.

But of course, not dying was always best.

Bad book!

The angrier he got, the little guy smacked the book again.

He didn’t just hit it himself—he picked it up and made the big brother, then middle brother, then little brother each smack it once.

It turned into a full-on group beating of the bad book.