Chapter 348: Water Buffalo

Adam wasn't the only one who couldn't afford the 12-labor-point pricetag.

The majority of the people didn't enter the cafeteria. Instead, they packed up their things and carried them over to the mechanical arms that were responsible for sortation.

Adam watched as a crude sculpture was carried to the mechanical arm, in exchange for which the creator didn't receive even a single labor point.

"Why didn't you get anything for that sculpture, brother?"

Adam approached the man and reached out to pat him on the shoulder to establish some camaraderie, but the man was very alert and maintained his distance from Adam.

Despite how wary and alert the man was, he still explained, "It's normal to receive no labor points."

"Why is that?"

"Because these things are generally ultimately sold on the internet, and most of the pieces don't have any artistic value. The prison takes everything and puts them through an initial appraisal to categorize them as crafts or artworks.

“Crafts are generally sold at a set price on large platforms, generally going for somewhere between dozens to hundreds of dollars, whereas artworks are put up for auction. If something is deemed to not even qualify as a craft, then the creator generally won't receive any labor points or only very few labor points."

"Will someone starve to death if they don't get any labor points?"

"They'll be very hungry, but they won't die from starvation. The nutrient bundle from the morning can cover your basal metabolic needs."

"I see."

With the collapse of humanitarianism, everyone on the outside was constantly working themselves to the bone, like donkeys running after the proverbial carrot of immortality that was always just out of reach, and no one was going to spare a thought for the evil-doers in the prison.

This was a world that was far more brutal and unforgiving than the outside world.

The dangling carrot of immortality had turned into the dangling carrot of food. In the outside world, the Gaia organization was using hope to string people along, while in the prison, the inmates were being forced to work just to satisfy basic needs.

Having been forced to skip lunch, Adam was feeling quite weak and feeble.

Prior to dinner, several of the factions split the inmates up into different areas before charging protection money, which consisted of 10 labor points per person.

"You there, new guy, come over here."

Adam was instructed to mix in with a certain group, and he was soon approached by a brawny figure.

"Hand it over."

"I don't have 10 labor points," Adam replied with a shake of his head.

He had attempted to create a few pieces earlier in the day, but he simply didn't have talent in this area, and the majority of the things that he had created didn't even qualify as crafts. He had submitted five pieces in total, but only earned two labor points.

Not only was a lack of labor points going to deprive him of food, it was also going to earn him a beating.

As soon as Adam expressed his inability to pay the protection fee, some members of a certain faction immediately closed in around him. It was going to be very difficult for him to take on so many people at once, and with no Mechguard units or wardens ensuring overseeing the inmates, he would immediately become a public enemy to everyone if he were to reveal his adapter abilities.

Without his transmission device, there was no way that he could drag people in a large area into his psychic world.

I can't afford to get injured!

Adam had already raised his arms in preparation for a beating, protecting his neck and other vital regions. As long as they didn't use any sharp weapons on him, a beating wasn't a cause for concern.

Right as Adam was already prepared to be beaten, a voice suddenly rang out to stop the group of inmates.

"Let him go for now. He's clearly a bit of a fighter. There aren't many ways to earn labor points in Darvaza Prison. You have to either be good at art, or you have to be a good fighter, and I reckon he'll be decent in a fight. Give him a test, Water Buffalo."

The man who had spoken was clearly the leader of the group, and as soon as his voice trailed off, a physically imposing man slowly stepped forward before positioning himself in front of Adam.

"If you can beat Water Buffalo, I'll let you join my Desert Gang!"

Right as the leader's voice trailed off, Water Buffalo's fist was already being swung through the air.

Adam was able to sense the danger with his telegnosis, thereby allowing him to take timely evasive measures.

With so many people watching, he naturally couldn't use any adapter abilities, so he could only fight Water Buffalo on a physical basis.

After dodging a few punches in succession, Adam was gradually beginning to struggle. Even though he was able to predict his opponent's attacks with his telegnosis, he didn't have the assistance of his prosthetics, and Water Buffalo was in far better physical condition than him, making it so that he was only just barely able to evade his opponent's attacks.

There was simply a vast disparity in speed and technique between the two.

Adam's strength and speed were only slightly superior to those of the average person. Due to the fact that he was a blank slate, all of his health parameters had been artificially maintained at peak level, thereby granting him superior physical attributes to the average person.

However, he had no training in hand-to-hand combat, and he was physically only slightly superior to the average person, so he was completely no match for such a muscular opponent who had clearly been training regularly for many years.

Even though he could predict his opponent's attacks in advance, it was still a struggle to evade them. Thankfully, he had experience in fighting opponents faster than himself in the psychic world, and he was able to manufacture an opportunity to retaliate, allowing him to land a punch on Water Buffalo's abdomen.

It was quite a solid punch, and Water Buffalo seemed to have had the wind knocked out of him for an instant.

However, Water Buffalo was only stopped in his tracks for a moment, while Adam felt as if he had punched a wall, and even his wrist was hurting from Water Buffalo's solid abdominal muscles.

Having drawn close to Water Buffalo to land that punch, he was unable to avoid Water Buffalo's subsequent attack, and Water Buffalo took advantage of this opportunity to grab onto him before slamming him to the ground in a wrestling maneuver.

It's over...

Adam felt as if his body had almost fallen apart at the seams from that violent throw, and not only had all the wind been knocked out of his chest, he felt as if all the strength had been sapped from his body.

After that, Water Buffalo straddled him and grabbed onto his arm.

If Water Buffalo were to catch him in an armlock, Adam could sense that his arm would be instantly snapped, and he would most likely suffer the same fate as the man from earlier in the day.

Right as Adam was about to invade Water Buffalo's psychic world, the leader of the group spoke up to stop him.

"Stop! There aren't many people who can last that long against you. Let's take him in before he starves into a monkey."

Water Buffalo seemed to be mentally handicapped, and he made a strange sound in response before obediently getting up from Adam's body, while Adam successfully became a member of the Desert Gang and earned 100 labor points.

"As a new member, we have to treat you to a good meal as part of our gang's tradition."

"Thank you, Boss."

Joining a gang was exactly what Adam wanted as there was strength and protection in numbers, he wouldn't have to starve.

Most importantly, he was here to kill people and cause chaos, and only in places with gangs was there chaos.

"Let's go. We get more activity time at night, but the cafeteria is only open for an hour, and if we want to get some good stuff, we have to get there early."

The leader led Adam and his men out of the factory and into the cafeteria as he spoke.

Upon returning to the cafeteria, Adam discovered that it was clearly different in the evening than it had been in the morning.

In the morning, there had only been those nutrient bundles on the conveyor belts overhead, but right now, there were all types of packaged food on the conveyor belts up above, and the mechanical arms would instantly fetch the requested food item after the labor points were issued.

Adam had only just ordered some food with the people from the Desert Gang when a warden suddenly walked in and called the leader away.

"Come with me for a second, Ross."