The clothing store was not an ordinary clothing store, nor was I going to buy a Wasteland-style fashion jacket that exposed my chest muscles. What I need was a combat-specific armor.
The shop owner was a grey-haired old man with presbyopic glasses and a little rickety. Originally he was only an authentic tailor, and what he ran in Dick Town was also a real clothing store. But the world after the nuclear war was quite different. Many people couldn't even fill their stomachs. So who cared too much about the quality of their clothes? Except for some people who still insisted on their social identities, most people wore worn-out clothes, and some of them even were of shreds and patches.
Obviously, the old man had been aware of that situation and began to change his business strategy.
At first, some lightweight and wearable tactical clothes were sold to meet the needs of ordinary residents. Then, armors adapted to fighting on Wasteland appeared in the shop. Of course, the old man now could process and transform the armors according to customers' personal needs, making it more versatile in function and excellent in protection. And I usually just looked around the shop because I was too poor.
"Old man, do you have any good combat armor here?"
I entered the room and saw the old man lying on the bench, then I asked.
I didn't know the old man's name, and he never mentioned it to anyone. When he came to Dick Town a few years ago, everyone called him old man.
"Combat armor? That's it!"
Perhaps because of seeing that I was naked, the old man looked contemptuous and pointed impatiently to the hard leather armor hanging on the wall, which was made of mutant buffalo's hides.
Even yesterday, I might have been satisfied if I had this armor made of buffalo's hides. The reinforced double-deck armor of buffalo's hides was completely unable to be cut by most of the sharp knives. And it could also resist multiple shocks of mutant rats and wild scorpions which could be seen commonly near Dick Town. However, what I was thinking about now was that... could it block bullets? Obviously not.
It seemed that the old man treated me like a tramp.
"If I can exchange these for something better?"
Then I took out two boxes of Anti-radiation Capsules which I got in the laboratory from my backpack and shook them in front of the old man. Whoever lived on the Wasteland knew the value of the capsule.
As expected, the old man sat straightly at once and stared at the medicine in my hand.
"You have Anti-radiation Capsules! Moreover... you have two boxes?"
The old man was slightly excited in the first sentence, but doubtful in the latter.
I knew his feeling. After all, this was rare medicine.
After the nuclear war, the drastic changes in the environment caused obvious harm to the human body. Although more than a hundred years had passed, it was undeniable that radiation hazards were still everywhere. For example, direct drinking of water in rivers, eating the flesh of mutant creatures, being wetted by rain, or even picking and eating mutant berries grown in the wild may lead to direct contact with radiation, resulting in chronic damage to the human body. A single Anti-radiation Capsule could cure this damage completely, and now I took out two boxes.
Feeling the old man's doubts, I unpacked the package and pulled the tablet out of the box.
"The package is out of damage."
I shook the medicine in my hand.
The old man stared at the tablet for almost ten seconds, and finally looked away.
"It's genuine. It can't be faked. Without a professional factory, one even can't make the package, let alone in the damn Dick Town."
Saying that, the old man stood up and looked at me.
"Fine, tell me what you want, as long as I have."
The old man didn't ask me where I got the medicine, maybe because he knew I wouldn't tell him. But he had to get the two boxes of Anti-radiation Capsule in front of him.
"The best combat armor, which can keep out most bullets."
My request wasn't high.
Hearing my words, the old man twinkled his eyes and struggles could be seen from his look.
"As long as the combat armor is good enough, I can give you more medicine!"
This sentence fired the old man's eyes immediately, and it seemed that he stood more straightly, instantaneous hesitation completely disappeared.
"Wait a moment!"
After saying that, the old man rushed into the inner house and I couldn't know what he was looking for.
I looked at the store shelves. In addition to some simple protective gear and daily clothes, there also were maternity clothes. I could not help but feel a little funny, the old man's interest was too...
It wasn't long before the old man pulled a large box out of a small room and it looked heavy. The old man lifted the box with both hands and carried it to the table.
"I'm old."
The old man gasped and sighed.
"Look it, young man. This is the best set of armor in my shop. I've tried my best to remould it."
As the old man said, he opened the box with a sense of pride on his face.
"Light green body protective armor whose surface is inlaid with a one-time forming alloying shell and to some extent it can resist the impact of short-distance fighting. There is also an intelligent bullet-proof board inside. The double protection is strong enough to withstand most bullets. Near the waist there is a circle of ammunition bags, so you can carry hundreds of rounds of bullets. On the shoulder strap, you can plug into a flashlight or other available devices.
"Light green shoulder protector, arm protector, and leg protector. They are of one color and inlaid with the same alloying shell outside and intelligent bullet-proof board inside. Elbow protector and knee protector are double-layer leather which is wear-resistant and easy to move.
"The special backpack whose back fully fits your back and the stress points are scattered so that you can carry more things."
"By the way, do you need a pair of combat boots? Besides, you can't be naked of your upper body when you wear the armor, I have..."
The old man's continuous words made me a little confused. Although I hardly heard what he said, I had one feeling that this was an excellent combat armor.
"Okay, yes, yes."
I nodded subconsciously.
I put on the close-fitting long-sleeved shirt provided by the old man, all parts of the armor one by one, and a pair of wear-resisting military boots.
"How do you feel?"
The old man saw that I had finished dressing and asked me, staring at me.
"It's very comfortable! What's more, there's a sense of security when I put it on."
I couldn't help praising it. I really felt wonderful.
"It's normal to feel this way. As long as you are not shot in the head, it's hard to die with this armor!"
The old man seemed to be satisfied with my reaction. Perhaps he was confident in his armor. Of course, it was my armor now.
I did not ask the old man about the origin of these armors. Obviously, they were not produced in Dick Town. But, everyone had their own secrets. So long as one could get what he or she wanted, why we cared about the origin?
I gave the old man two boxes of Anti-radiation Capsules, and gave him another two ampoules of morphine from my backpack. The deal was done. As the old man watched, I packed all the items in the old backpack into the new backpack. The old man was surprised to see that I kept moving medical items between the two backpacks. I just put my hand on my mouth and made a silent gesture.
I was afraid the old man would cry out. Even in Dick Town, no one could guarantee that there were no desperados.
"Thank you for your armor!"
Before the old man regained consciousness, I hurried away.
In the bakery, I traded a box of cold medicine for a week's bread, not bark-flavored brown bread, of course.
Fresh meat was seldom sold in butcher shops in Dick Town. Most were preserved mutant beef or dried meat which were not cheap.
Mutant rat meat, mutant cockroach leg, and mutant mole meat and so on were cheap. Of course the taste of them was naturally inferior to mutant beef. Moreover, compared with artificially raised mutant cattle, you never knew what these creatures who liked to shuttle in various dirty places brought on their bodies.
"Hey! Scavenger, what do you want today? Cockroach leg or mole meat? This cockroach's leg is high in protein. It's very good!"
The bareheaded butcher grinned. With his fat belly, he was born to be a butcher.
The butcher was the butcher, having no intelligence at all. Although I had been here many times, at least today I didn't look like a poor man.
"One kilo of dried beef, can I exchange it with something?"
Ignoring the boss's surprised eyes, I took out two cure syringes from my backpack.
"Yes! Yes! Of course, you can!"
The butcher laughed, and almost all the fat on his face squeezed together. It was really a little bit... ugly.
I packed up my stuff and walked towards the town gate.
As I walked out of the gate of the town, several guards who mocked me before seemed to recognize me and felt astonished...