Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When Shen Cong woke up because of the alarm clock, the sun was already up.
He checked the electricity in Titan’s battery and found that there was still 52% left. He then placed the solar power electricity generator on the roof to charge up before he returned to the truck to fry up some fanged wolf meat to eat. He had decided to live solely on it over the next few days. After all, he killed seven of them, and if he did not finish them quickly, it would be a waste.
These fanged wolves had a lot of meat on them, but Shen Cong liked the fatty meat located in their bellies, because oil could be extracted from them.
Once he extracted and refined that oil, he could use it to fry fanged wolf meat, and it provided a unique taste.
After he had his fill, Shen Cong activated Titan and began wandering around the ruins of the county town. He intended to stay in them for a few days and determine the route he had planned to take before the apocalypse arrived.
Shen Cong had marked all the resource points, firearms stations, maintenance stations, and gas stations in the nearby county towns and provincial capital in detail in the chart containing his plan.
There was a drinking water plant in Wuwei, and not only did it provide drinking water to the county town, it also produced bottled water. This drinking water plant also had an underground storage, and it was used to store bottled water.
It had been one and a half months since the disaster, but Shen Cong had yet to see any lakes in the midst of all the yellow sand. Hence, he could not replenish his water supplies. At that moment, the usable water he had in store could only last him for around another month.
He never imagined that he would not even be able to find a water source.
But there was definitely a water source in Wuwei, or else the seven fanged wolves would not have been able to survive for so long.
Only the sound of wind making the sand roll around the ground could be heard.
Titan was like a savage, fierce beast that wandered about between the broken walls. Its engines rumbled, and they were incredibly loud. The battlefield surveillance radar turned slowly to scan the topography of the entire ruins.
The radar had the function of drawing a map. Once Shen Cong imported the map that he had saved in the past and the map that the radar drew into the system, he could make a comparison between the two and obtain the location of the buildings that were originally in the county town.
‘Based on the map, this spot should be the unicom building, which has a Carrefour Supermarket at the first basement floor. I wonder whether it was destroyed.’
Once he was certain of the precise location of the supermarket, Shen Cong drove Titan forward while lowering the bulldozer blade to begin shoveling away the sand and shattered stones on the surface of the road.
This task took twenty minutes before Shen Cong was finally able to get a firm grasp of the true location of the supermarket.
When he found the entrance to the first basement floor, he frowned. He could only somewhat see the stairs that originally belonged to the building entrance since they were now completely buried under the sand and shattered stones.
The entrance to the supermarket was huge, and Shen Cong wondered whether the first basement floor had been completely buried underground. If it were the case, it would be difficult for him to search for resources.
However, he was a survival expert who had been tinkering with machines for six years. He soon brought out a piece of equipment from Titan, and it was a vibration locator. It was an item that could be used to measure topography based on the vibrations from the surface of the Earth.
Since it was only used for mapping out the surface, it was not very accurate when it came to measuring areas underground, but Shen Cong did not need accurate readings. He only needed to know whether the supermarket was completely buried.
The vibration locator soon gave Shen Cong good news. The area underground was empty, and it was quite large, which meant that the supermarket was preserved in perfect condition.
Shen Cong installed an alarm system on the radar so that if it detected any moving targets, it would immediately send a warning to his handphone. Even though he had no signal on his phone, he could still use the infrared connectivity system and Bluetooth, so he had no problem in receiving signals as long as he was within a few meters of the radar.
Once he finished installing the alarm system, he dressed up in a stab proof vest, cut resistant gloves, and army boots, picked up his entrenching tool, and began clearing up the entrance.
Since he had the strength of a bull, he could be considered to be digging out the entrance with the strength of a bull.
Shen Cong, with his great strength, was able to use the entrenching tool at an astonishing speed. A normal person might need to spend half a day to dig out an entrance that could allow a single person to pass, but Shen Cong only required half an hour for the same task.
The supermarket was dark. All the shelves had fallen to the ground, and various goods were scattered all over the floor.
Shen Cong fixed a headlamp on his forehead and picked a travel bag before beginning his search for resources he wanted among the scattered goods. He did not even cast a glance at clothes and food.
At that moment, he was in an urgent need for resources that would allow him to survive. Drinks, mineral water, wine, and cigarettes were his true targets.
Drinks and mineral water were naturally for him to drink, and he was lacking in this department the most.
As for cigarettes and wine, he intended to stock up on them so that he could trade these items in the future. He could not tell whether he was the only survivor in the world right now, but if he needed to trade with other survivors, wine and cigarettes, which were items that could numb the mind, would surely be more valuable compared to food and fresh water.
… Alright, he had to admit that this was knowledge he gained from movies and novels.
Soon, Shen Cong found the area containing drinks. The shelves had collapsed, and the drinks were scattered all over the floor. There were Minute Maid Orange, Nutri-express, Coke, green tea, and other drinks.
Shen Cong picked up a bottle of Nutri-express and checked its production date as well as its expiration date. Then, he opened the cap and gulped down its contents.
In less than five seconds, an entire bottle of Nutri-express ended up in his stomach.
He let out a loud burp in a carefree manner.
Over the past month or so, Shen Cong had been very anxious about his freshwater supply, and he did not dare to drink large gulps of water. Now, he could finally drink freely without worry.
When he started packing up, most of the bottles he picked up were mineral water because it did not have an expiration date. He only picked two to three other drinks to change taste once in a while.
Then, Shen Cong found the shelf containing cigarettes and wine. He picked ten boxes of the most expensive cigarettes and packed up a few bottles of good wine. When he passed by a shelf that did not fall to the ground on his way back, he saw roasted sunflower seeds, walnuts, and groundnuts. He took out a bag to pack up some of those things as well.
At that moment, rustling sounds suddenly came from behind him. Shen Cong turned around swiftly and saw a mutated rat the size of a piglet. It had appeared at some point in time, and it was using its nose to find its way to Shen Cong.
When his headlamp shone on it, the mutated rat immediately became agitated. It released a strange sound that was similar to a snake hissing, and before Shen Cong could react to it, it leapt at him as quickly as lightning. It was not any slower than a fanged wolf, and Shen Cong did not have time to dodge it. He could only try his best to raise his arm and block the attack.
Smack!
The large mutated rat bit on Shen Cong’s elbow. His protective clothing could not stop it, and the rat’s sharp teeth sank deep into his flesh. Sharp pain traveled through Shen Cong’s body.
“Get lost!”
While enduring the pain, Shen Cong tried to fling the mutated rat away, but it refused to let go once it clamped its jaw on his flesh. He could not throw it away no matter how hard he tried.
Shen Cong used his other hand to grab the military-grade Sanleng thorn [1] from his waist and stabbed the mutated rat in a panic. He managed to land a solid hit, and the Sanleng thorn sank firmly into the rat’s back.
“Hiss!”
The rat let go of Shen Cong’s elbow, but it also took away his Sanleng thorn while at it. The creature landed on the floor and started hissing like a snake. Then, it pounced on Shen Cong without regard for anything else.
Shen Cong had practiced wrestling, but he was sorely lacking in applying those skills in real fights. In his panic, he lost his Sanleng thorn, and his handheld crossbow was on his back. His handgun was strapped to a gunsling, but he had not unlocked the safety. He could not bring it out and shoot the rat before it reached him.
Right then, a thought flashed in his head, and he remembered that he had made a fang dagger last night.
That dagger was hanging at his waist.
Shen Cong grabbed the fang dagger in a reverse grip. Since he was nervous, he concentrated all his strength on the dagger in his hand to block the rat.
Rip!
The sound of a gunny sack being ripped apart rose. The fang dagger cut through the rat’s head, but to Shen Cong’s surprise, he was met with no resistance. He had sliced apart half of the rat’s head, and blood gushed out at him.
Everything happened too quickly, and before Shen Cong even managed to react to the situation, he found that he had already used his dagger to kill a mutated rat.
He did not waste time to straighten his thoughts. Worried that there were other mutated rats around, he grabbed the mutated rat’s carcass and left Carrefour Supermarket. He had to go back to Titan to treat his wounds.
When he went inside the truck, everything around him was safe once more. Shen Cong touched the cold sweat on his back, and it was only then that fear finally struck him.
He thought that the first basement floor was an enclosed space so there would be no danger inside, which was why he was not ready for a huge rat to jump out and attack him. Its incisors were as sharp as watermelon cutters, and they had pierced his skin. Blood was still flowing down his left arm.
*****
“AH!”
Shen Cong’s exasperated cries came from Titan when disinfecting his wound. He had learned some basic first aid before, and he had treated some stray dogs, but it was the first time he treated himself. It was only at that moment that he learned just how inconceivable it was for the male protagonists in movies to just grit their teeth and immediately finish bandaging their wounds.
He was in so much pain that snot trickled down his nose while tears flowed down his cheeks. When he thought about how he had to pick up a needle and thread later on to suture his own wound, Shen Cong found it even more terrifying than committing suicide.
He looked at the carcass of the mutated rat beside his feet, and he stomped on it viciously to vent his anger.
Suddenly, Shen Cong remembered how he killed the rat. At that time, he had only wanted to use the fang dagger to block the attack, but it had managed to slice the rat’s head apart.
Shen Cong knew just how tough the fang dagger was, but he could not believe how sharp it was.
‘How did it manage to cut that rat open so easily?’ While Shen Cong poured antiseptic over his hand, he tried to divert his attention to the rat. ‘The rat’s skull should be very tough. It’s possible for the fang dagger to pierce it, but slicing it apart is pretty much impossible.
‘Could it be..?’
Shen Cong recalled the entire situation once more. During the fight, he had been very nervous and had subconsciously gathered all his strength on the fang dagger, including his Activity. ‘Is it because of Activity?
‘It can repair Titan and strengthen my body… Then based on the same logic, it can also strengthen the fang dagger… and even repair my wounds?’
Shen Cong instinctively thought of his injury. If he could use Activity to heal it, he would no longer have to feel that sharp pain anymore…
When he thought of this, he eagerly activated the Activity ability in his body.
His Activity ability was something he obtained through the connection he shared with Titan. It filled his limbs and body, and it slowly improved his constitution. Now, it swiftly gathered at his wound as his mind guided it to the injury.
In an instant, the wound, which had been stinging painfully just a moment ago, was wrapped by a refreshing feeling. The pain started fading away, and when numbness filled the area, Shen Cong could sense his wound quickly closing up.
‘I knew it! I can use Activity to repair my wounds, and it shares almost the same logic as Titan’s self-repair, I mean, Extension!”
With the help from Activity, Shen Cong estimated that his arm should be able to recover within less than a week.
‘The disaster changed the world and made it different. It did not just bring about destruction, but a change that is worth looking forward to.’
Not only did Activity sped up the healing of his wound, it also reduced his pain. This allowed Shen Cong to do other things, and the first thing he did after treating his wound was research the mutated rat.
It had incisors that were like watermelon cutters, and they seemed to be made of the same material as the earth-digging insect’s chelicerae or the fanged wolves’ fangs.
Shen Cong put them away for safekeeping.
Then, he recorded the mutated rat’s information into his laptop.
[Large-toothed rat: a mutated rodent. Possesses low intelligence, high movement speed, rather low combat strength, and is fierce.]
He originally intended to state that the rat possessed great combat strength since it managed to injure him, and if it were not for the mighty strength shown by the fang dagger, he might have already died in Carrefour Supermarket. However, compared to the fanged wolves and the earth-digging insect, the large-toothed rat did not possess great combat strength. It had only managed to injure Shen Cong because he did not have Titan protecting him.
Hence, the large-toothed rat could only be categorized as possessing low combat strength.