Survival Guide in the Age of Cataclysm

Chapter 15 Night

"They will not attack humans unless they enter their nests."

Xu Yang breathed a sigh of relief. He had been mentally prepared to change camps, but thankfully the other side was a neutral creature.

The two returned to the campfire.

Xu Yang enthusiastically plucked the bird's feathers clean, emptied its belly, and then strung it up with a wooden stick.

The salt I had collected in town earlier finally came in handy.

Snow-white salt grains are sprinkled little by little onto the roasted meat.

Although it was his first time baking, Xu Yang made thorough preparations...

He patiently turned the wooden stick over.

Based on the simple idea that one should never eat raw meat, not even a little bit burnt.

He deliberately extended the baking time.

……

Lily, sitting at the other end of the campfire, finally couldn't help but remind them, "Isn't it burnt?"

"It just looks burnt, maybe it's perfectly cooked inside."

Xu Yang's eyelids twitched, and he carefully took the roasted meat off the grill.

Despite being called roasted meat, its dark and dry appearance made it look more like a piece of charcoal.

"Then why aren't you eating?" Lily glanced at him, as if unintentionally urging him.

"..."

Looking at the carefully roasted charcoal, Xu Yang explained, "It's still a bit hot."

This is a lie.

Normal food should be appealing in color, aroma, and taste, but the roasted meat in front of me has a burnt smell and a dark, unappetizing appearance.

It's hard to imagine what kind of flavor these two things would create.

Xu Yang forced a smile, opened his mouth, and took a bite...

We don’t know what it will taste like yet, but we must imagine it will be delicious.

He said, "I'm getting dizzy from the smell, you should have some too."

"..."

The girl politely declined Xu Yang's "kindness" and simply munched on the protein bar in her hand.

Xu Yang looked at the white food in the other person's hand.

He found other topics to distract himself from the taste in his mouth.

It wasn't that the girl rejected his "food," but rather that he remembered her saying before that she only ate protein-rich rations.

Xu Yang knew that the protein diet could provide Lily with the protein that her body could not synthesize.

This is certainly necessary.

But she ate only rations every day, every meal.

For Xu Yang, who knows its taste, only one fitting description comes to mind—

Crazy.

Humans are creatures capable of engaging in various self-harming behaviors for the sake of pleasure.

Let's turn to the matter of eating.

Indulging occasionally and eating something nice is simply human nature.

But for the girl, food seemed to be only for survival, and such a situation was rare.

Especially considering the abilities the girl has demonstrated, she shouldn't lack the funds to buy food.

Xu Yang couldn't help but ask, "Lily, have you eaten anything else?"

The girl looked up into his eyes, and after a few seconds of silence...

She spoke slowly, enunciating each word clearly: "I do not drink human blood."

Xu Yang was taken aback.

He wasn't a particularly perceptive person, but he sensed that there seemed to be more to the story.

"That's not what I meant. I meant chicken and pork, which are good sources of protein, so that we can enjoy delicious food after we've gotten the necessary protein."

Lily shook her head and said, "There's no need for that, it would just cost extra contribution points."

"Can't I reward myself once in a while?"

Xu Yang, a modern person, found it hard to understand, since before he transmigrated, he liked to find all sorts of reasons to treat himself to something nice.

Including but not limited to—rewarding someone when they're in a good mood, rewarding someone when they're in a bad mood, rewarding someone when they're in a so-so mood...

Anyway, let's reward him first.

Lily's idea, unless the previous assumptions are overturned, therefore—

"Are you short on contribution points?"

"Yes." Lily nodded, tugging at her hair. "As long as I have enough contribution points, I can cure my vampire disease."

cure?

Xu Yang frowned.

Does it refer to genes with high sensitivity and mutation, and genes that cannot synthesize proteins autonomously?

Putting aside whether it can be cured, do we really want to remove genes that bring so many benefits from such minor defects?

He figured Lily must be aware of the enormous advantages this ability could bring in such a world.

However, this is someone else's private matter.

Xu Yang ultimately said nothing and threw the half-eaten charcoal on the ground.

He is lying on the bed.

"I'm full, goodnight."

……

In another region, the doomsday convoy.

About ten people sat around the campfire, and two corpses lay on the ground.

They are cyborgs and werewolves.

The leading bearded man, or rather, Barto Critamo.

He squatted down beside Gu Xian's body, examining the wounds on it.

"Sword marks, flames, and arrows—what are your thoughts?"

Although he was asking a group of people, he was looking at a tall, thin man wearing glasses.

The latter pushed up his glasses, pondered for a moment, and

"He was probably killed by a trap."

"How so?"

"The most damaging knife marks were caused by cyborgs, mimicking blades, a kind of bio-engineered implant."

The bespectacled man kicked the cyborg's arm.

"You can see this in the notch on the cyborg's wrist; it's a result of the plugin malfunctioning after death."

Barto nodded.

"Go on."

"After Gu Xian returned to the caravan, although his mind became a little impaired, he was still not someone that a mindless cyborg could kill."

"Furthermore, these marks, whether from arrows or flames, were not caused by cyborgs."

"The third party at the time probably took advantage of the battle between Gu Xian and the cyborgs to launch a sneak attack from a distance."

Suddenly, someone in the crowd asked, "Qi Yuan, how strong is this third party?"

Just as Qi Yuan was about to speak, another person chimed in, "Are you stupid? How powerful can someone who shoots arrows from the shadows be?"

"You're the fucking idiot!"

"Say it again!"

The two men were on the verge of escalating their verbal argument into a physical fight.

That's enough.

A voice rang out, and Barto stood up and glanced at the two of them.

"Anyway, that's the situation. Now, tell me what to do?"

Everyone looked at each other.

"revenge?"

As soon as the voice rang out, someone in the crowd let out a sneer.

"Screw the report! Boss wants to talk about Blackwater. One cyborg can extract at least three vials. Want some bio-plug-in?"

"..."

"Yes, yes."

Barto watched the noisy crowd quietly.

Blackwater?

You're half right, but more importantly—

Something whose full picture is unknown.

He looked at the corpse at his feet, as if the penniless Gu Xian of the past was lingering in front of him.

So what exactly is the secret?

An unknown person gained a powerful mutation in a short period of time.

Lure and mutagen are both rare items, let alone the unheard-of mutation of werewolves.

How did he get it?

Barto was very interested in this.

Obviously, Gu Xian couldn't tell him anymore. There should be some clues among his belongings, right?

However, given Gu Xian's eccentric and arrogant demeanor, it's unlikely he would leave anything truly important with the convoy.

In other words, carry it close to your body?

Barto went into the tent, took out a map, and quickly drew a few lines on it.

"Alright, everyone, be quiet."

He faced the crowd and pointed to the map.

"Follow my drawing, use these routes to find people, all the way to the nearest gathering place. Once you find the target, notify me via the bracelet."

"What if we've contacted the wrong person?"

"...What do you think we do?"

Everyone gave the speaker a strange look, and then it dawned on them—

Having joined a raiding organization, are you expecting to apologize?

Kill the ugly ones!

The group quickly divided up the routes, and the engines of several off-road vehicles roared to life.

The convoy sped away into the night...