Chapter 5 — I Built an Empire in the Wasteland

Three days after finding the bunker, Bạt Phong was forced to return to the Black Market. Food reserves were running out, and even though there were some old canned goods in the cellar, he did not dare let Yên Nhi eat expired food while her body was still weak. He left her in a safe sub-compartment of the shelter, carefully instructed her on how to close the seal from the inside, and then walked alone towards the market.

The Black Market in the morning is as noisy as ever — the sound of bargaining, the sound of selling goods, the sound of rickshaws creaking on the rough ground. Temporary stalls made of scrap wood and old corrugated iron sell all sorts of things: homemade bottled water, dried meat of unknown origin, repaired energy batteries, and even a few rare antibiotics that are rumored to be "genuine products from before the war" even though most of them are fake.

Bạt Phong used the few remaining copper components in his bag to exchange for a few loaves of hard bread and a small bottle of filtered water. He tried to maintain a normal attitude, not revealing any strange signs that might attract others' attention. But when he passed by the corner of the market where Hạ Tử Kỳ often stood to collect protection money from small stalls, he felt the man's eyes fixed on him.

"Hey, good student," Hạ Tử Kỳ called out, his voice full of mockery but there was something unusual in his eyes - curiosity mixed with caution. "I haven't seen you in the old area these days. Found a new mine?"

Bạt Phong turned back, trying to keep his tone calm. "The old area has been cleaned out by you guys. I have to find another place."

"Really?" Hạ Tử Kỳ squinted his eyes, his gaze glanced at the clothes Bạt Phong was wearing - still the same old, worn clothes as always, nothing suspicious about his appearance. But there was one small detail he couldn't help but notice: Bạt Phong's gait was different. No longer hunching over and tiptoeing around like someone who was always afraid of being bullied, but there was a certain steadiness in every step, although it was difficult to notice if you don't pay close attention.

"Is there something strange?" Bạt Phong asked, trying to keep a normal expression even though his heart was starting to feel tense.

"Nothing." Hạ Tử Kỳ shrugged, but his eyes did not leave him until Bạt Phong disappeared behind a corner of the stall. He stood silently for a moment, then turned around to find Lôi Quang Việt.

Lôi Quang Việt was sitting in the "headquarters" of the Gray Wolf gang — a relatively intact three-story building on the edge of the Black Market, once a bank headquarters before the war, now used by the bandits as a gathering place. He was resting his feet on the table, sipping a bottle of cheap homemade wine when Hạ Tử Kỳ walked in to report.

"Bạt Phong is different these days," Hạ Tử Kỳ said, sitting down in the chair opposite. "His gait is quite confident, but these past few days I haven't seen him go to the old area anymore. He said we cleaned it out so he had to find another place, but the way he said it... doesn't sound like a guy who just lost an entire bag of scrap."

Lôi Quang Việt lowered his foot, his eyes flashing with excitement mixed with caution. "You think he found something?"

"I'm not sure. But that kind of confidence, I've never seen him before. Even in high school, when he was at the top of his grade, he never walked like that." Hạ Tử Kỳ frowned, trying to remember the details. "Besides, his clothes are dirty in a different way. Not like the brick dust commonly found in the old Tàn Đô area, but like damp dust, the type of dust in a closed cellar that hasn't been ventilated for a long time." Quắc Bá Long, who was sitting quietly in the corner of the room sharpening his knife blade, suddenly spoke up, his voice booming. "Could it have found some unexplored vault? I heard the old guys at the market talk all the time about old military bunkers full of good stuff."

Lôi Quang Việt was silent for a moment, his fingers lightly tapping on the rotten wooden table, his mind reeling with that possibility. If Bạt Phong — the weak scrap collector he's been looking down on for the past seven years — really finds some treasure, then this could be the biggest chance the Gray Wolves have had since the war.

"Let someone keep an eye on it." Lôi Quang Việt ordered, his voice sharp. "Just be discreet, don't let it find out. I want to know exactly where it goes, what it does, every day."

"Clear." Hạ Tử Kỳ nodded, stood up and prepared to leave to carry out orders.

"Besides," Lôi Quang Việt added, his voice low, his eyes flashing with a familiar cold light every time he calculated something, "if it's true that he found something big, don't act rashly right away. I want to know clearly before taking action, so as not to waste such a good opportunity."

Meanwhile, Bạt Phong was completely unaware that he had been targeted. He left the Black Market with a small bag of food, carefully detouring through a few different roads like a long-established habit of self-defense, although this time it unintentionally made his followers - two Gray Wolf juniors sent by Hạ Tử Kỳ right after the meeting - have to work harder to not be exposed.

On the way back to the fenced area, Bạt Phong stopped in the middle of the road, feeling a prickling sensation on the back of his neck as if someone was watching. He had survived in Phế Thổ long enough to trust his intuition. He pretended to stop and tie his shoelaces, quickly glancing over his shoulder, but saw no suspicious figure in sight - the stalkers were experienced enough to keep a safe distance.

Even though he couldn't detect anyone, the feeling of insecurity still stuck with him the rest of the way. He deliberately went around two more streets, passed through a small crowded market before turning in the direction that actually led to the fenced area, hoping that if anyone was really following, they would lose sight of him in the chaotic crowd.

When approaching the tunnel door, Bạt Phong stood still for a moment, observing his surroundings carefully before approaching the secret entrance. There were no signs of anything unusual. He breathed a sigh of relief, tapping in a predetermined rhythm on the concrete slab near the tunnel door - a signal to let Yên Nhi know that it was him, not a stranger.

The cellar door opened slightly from the inside, Yên Nhi stuck her head out, her eyes lit up when she saw him safely back. "Can you buy anything?"

"Bread with filtered water," Bạt Phong replied, stepped inside, carefully closed the cellar door according to the procedure she taught him. "But I think we need to be more careful from now on. I have a feeling I'm being followed at the market."

Yên Nhi's face looked tense. "Watched by whom?"

"Maybe it's my old classmates. They formed a gang of robbers and often blocked my way before." Bạt Phong sat down, tore off a loaf of bread and gave it to her. "Or maybe something else. I'm not sure."

Yên Nhi received the loaf of bread but did not eat it immediately. Her eyes looked far away toward the entrance of the shelter, as if trying to sense some invisible threat lurking out there. "If it's the organization that imprisoned me..." she said softly, her voice trembling. "They won't give up easily. I feel it, even though I don't remember why."

Bạt Phong looked at her, then looked around this dark but safe basement, silently deciding in his heart: whether the follower was the Gray Wolf gang or some other more dangerous force, he would not let anyone take Yên Nhi back to the old path.

"We can't stay in this bunker forever," he said, half-eating a loaf of bread and thinking out loud. "It's safe, but if anything happens, there's only one way out. We need a place that's close to the bunker for easy access to things, defensible, and not too obvious for anyone passing by to see." Yên Nhi nodded, took a small bite of bread, chewing slowly as if her body was still getting used to eating normally again. "I think I can be of some help. Even though I don't remember clearly, when I looked at the equipment in the bunker, I knew how they worked, knew how to arrange a basic defense system. Perhaps that knowledge was ingrained in me from before, like a thoughtless reflex."

"That's good." Bạt Phong smiled, although the smile was somewhat forced because the worry was still there. "Tomorrow we will survey the surrounding area and find a suitable place. For tonight, just rest well."

Yên Nhi did not answer immediately, her eyes were glued to the small fire that Bạt Phong had just lit in a corner of the ventilation shaft. She was silent for a long time before speaking softly, almost whispering: "Thank you. For not leaving me behind." Bạt Phong didn't know how to respond, just nodded slightly, then turned away and pretended to be busy checking the small pile of food to hide the embarrassment that suddenly rose in his heart.

That night, he sat awake longer than usual by the hand-cranked flashlight, his mind starting to think about the need to prepare more carefully for what was to come — not just to survive, but to protect what he was gradually gaining. Outside, the night wind whistled through the gaps in the collapsed walls, bringing with it the cold air of a land that still had not healed from the wounds of war, but in Bạt Phong's heart, for the first time in seven years, something began to grow like a real purpose in life.