He enthusiastically provided Huai Shi with a long list of equipment and precautions, saying that Huai Shi could call him anytime if he had questions, and eagerly invited Huai Shi to join the Border Extreme Sports Club.
After work every day, everyone can go to various dangerous areas to court death together. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
Huai Shi casually glanced at the club's homepage, only to see an average annual disability rate of forty percent.
He wanted to challenge himself, but he wasn't *that* crazy... He promptly and graciously declined.
Once he had the list of equipment, Huai Shi compared it to the contents of his saddlebag. He then realized that he had most of the items, like tents and various tools, already in his possession; it was just that the brands were different, but the differences were not significant. Most importantly, his food and water storage supplies were also well-prepared.
For the remaining odds and ends, Huai Shi planned to shop locally to see if he could complete his collection. It was during his search around noon that he discovered these items were not as scarce as he had imagined.
It was just that the people selling these things often weren't exactly upstanding citizens.
Everyone seemed to have long grown accustomed to such travelers of dubious origins. Some even hinted to Huai Shi several times that although they didn't know what trouble he was in that made him want to skip town, would he like a recommendation for a good place to go? A certain big shot was currently short-handed... if he was interested, he could make this call; meals and transport provided.
Huai Shi listened, dumbfounded.
Basically, no one believed that Huai Shi was actually planning to cross Australia.
Only a middle-aged woman selling simple water filters, after listening to him while smoking, looked at him with a strange gaze for a long time. "Another one looking to die?"
"Hm?" Huai Shi was puzzled.
The middle-aged woman shook her head, stubbed out her cigarette, then took something out of a cabinet and tossed it on the table. "You're the second one this week wanting to head into the desert... Four hundred US Dollars, non-negotiable."
"There are others?"
Huai Shi was incredulous.
It was like mustering all your courage to become a superhero, only to get famous and be called one of the Calabash Brothers, because, hey, there are six others just as amazing as you...
"Why wouldn't there be?" the middle-aged woman retorted indifferently. "Darwin gets more than a dozen death-seekers like you every year. It's just that there's been a particular spike in them recently."
Huai Shi immediately grew curious. "Has anyone ever succeeded?"
"How would I know?" the middle-aged woman countered. "Even if you succeed, are you going to make a special trip back here to tell me?"
She had a point. And she was very good at swindling money. Huai Shi had to admit.
After selling him the portable water filter, she then ripped him off badly on a gas mask, charging him at least twice the proper price...
But at least, he had finally finished preparing his equipment.
After once again inventorying the various supplies in his saddlebag, Huai Shi turned to the map and began to plan his route.
Then, he was suddenly struck by an idea.
"Hey, how much Correction Value do you think restoring Australia's ecological environment would be worth?"
"If it were achievable," Raven said, "you'd instantly gain twenty percent Correction Value. Depending on subsequent developments, you'd continue to receive at least four percent annually, gradually decreasing until, in the end, it should add up to about sixty-one percent. At that point, you'd be Australia's Savior, the living Buddha whom millions of immigrants would thank every day."
After finishing, Raven added, "But let me tell you responsibly, you're dreaming."
"Eh? Can't a person have a dream?"
"Dreams are good, but some dreams are better left undreamt."
Raven shook her head, a peculiar smile on her face. "Forget you. Even if the Contemporary Green Emperor, America's Agricultural God, Shambhala's 'Growth Sky', and a whole host of others came, they'd all be screwed. You don't actually think Australia's current state came about naturally, do you?"
Gazing at Huai Shi's stunned expression, she added meaningfully, "The waters in Australia, heh heh, run deep."
「.」
And so, after squashing his unrealistic fantasies and resting for another day, Huai Shi set off into the depths of the wilderness and desert at dusk the next day, treading in the dim, yellow light of the setting sun.
He was just one step away from missing the urgent meteorological alert from the Astronomical Society...