Inside the cab, the driver saw the swarm of insects dissipate and took advantage of the lull to start the car and drive away from the abandoned gas station.

The tire tracks left in the rain-soaked sand pointed out a clear path for the radiated monster, and all the birds and beasts in the area gathered there.

The driver was anxious and dared not be distracted, so he didn't even notice Shi Jinzhe and Shehe coming in.

He just wanted to floor the accelerator and make the car take off.

Sheh settled into the wicker chair with great interest, not intending to tell the driver about the barrier she had left behind to scare people away.

She observed the driver as if watching a spectacle, while Shi Jinzhe watched her from the side.

After a short while, Shekh got tired of looking at it and started to move his neck and stretch his body.

What is this?

A black packaging bag came into her view, which at first glance looked like dog food.

The driver was stunned, and it took him a second to realize that someone had entered the driver's seat.

He turned his head hastily and said, "That's a nutritional supplement. We have to take it when we go out. It contains many trace elements. You can try it. Ordinary people don't even have it."

Shekh opened the bag. It was white, with individual grains. The driver had eaten some two days ago and enjoyed it, but he hadn't looked closely then and thought it was popped rice.

She closed the bag. "What do ordinary people eat in the shelter?"

"Mushrooms are the most common, followed by artificially cultivated moss. If you want to eat meat, there are bamboo shoot worms and mealworms. For something better, there are farmed livestock, but those are very rare and you can hardly find them."

That's all?

"And the worst kind is the kind that can be recycled synthetic products; eating it will only guarantee you won't starve."

Recyclable…

Shech's curiosity was suppressed by these five words, and he stopped asking questions.

Shi Jinzhe handed over a box of milk candy, saying, "Have some to adjust your appetite."

Scherhe opened his palm; the cylindrical white toffee in the glass bottle looked utterly unappealing.

With the idea of ​​sharing weal and woe, she opened the black packaging bag and let Shi Jinzhe admire the dried maggots inside.

"Would you like to try some? Please give it a try."

Staring at the bag of things handed to her, Shi Jinzhe gave her a look that said, "Are you serious?"

Shekh smiled without saying a word and stepped forward a little further.

Shi Jinzhe pretended to put two fingers into the bag.

"I'll kiss you after you finish eating."

"Never mind, I'm afraid I'll throw up in front of you."

Shekh withdrew one hand, put the bag back in its place, and stuffed the candy in his hand back into Shi Jinzhe's hand.

"Eat something good."

"I thought you were holding a grudge because I didn't respond to you and were deliberately making things difficult for me."

"I never hold grudges."

“Okay, I misspoke.” Shi Jinzhe looked at her with deep agreement. “You’re not holding a grudge, you’re repaying a debt of gratitude.”

“A wife who came to repay a debt of gratitude,” he repeated.

He spoke in a very tender tone, conveying a sincere praise for his wife through just two ordinary words.

His half-hour practice by the window was worthwhile.

"I have a question, can you answer it?"

Shekh took the initiative to grasp Shi Jin's folded hand. "If I were to appear as a snake in front of outsiders, would you still call me that?"

The image of a human calling a giant snake "wife" is absurd to even imagine.

Shi Jinzhe had already thought about this problem: "I could shout even if you were a stone."

He was at a loss because he hadn't quite grasped what was going on, but he's recovered now.

"Cough... um..."

The driver couldn't hold back any longer.

He tried his best to minimize his presence, but the more he tried to endure it, the faster his mouth would produce saliva. Before he could hold it in, he choked on his own saliva.

He really didn't want to hear it...

But that conversation kept drilling into his ears, making it hard for him to pretend to be deaf and blind.

As we all know, showing affection outside of private spaces is a form of psychological torture for others. The driver strongly suspects that the love-struck man from before has returned to this body!

Shi Jinzhe changed the subject without batting an eye, "How much do you know about Dota?"

"…ah?"

Did the emotional attachment dissipate so quickly? Are we jumping straight to the point?

"answer."

Driver: "Oh, I've been there twice before. The conditions at the small shelter are so-so. Because of the population problem, every few years young people over the age of sixteen have to go to other shelters to exchange marriages, so Dota City is quite chaotic. The management can't compare to that of the large shelters. At least the large shelters put on a show, but the small shelters have been no different from bandits over the years."

Shi Jinzhe: "How chaotic is the management? Have the people inside ever rioted? Tell me in detail."

“Riots happen everywhere. I heard from my elders that when the shelter was first built, there were people causing trouble every few days. They would complain that they couldn’t do without meat, or that they couldn’t do without water or electricity to take a shower. There were also people who wanted to go out to find their relatives during special periods. These people would gather together and rebel every now and then.”

The driver scoffed, "Even with weapons in the Great Shelter, things are still like this. Dota City must be even more chaotic than us. I've heard rumors that people in Dota City often disappear for unknown reasons. Those who can't be found are survivors with less severe mutations. Everyone says that Dota City is so short of food that those who can't be found have all been eaten."

"The fact that a civilization could be disrupted and still maintain this cannibalistic society is truly remarkable," Shekh said. "When did this situation begin?"

"...It's been a long time. Nobody remembers when this rumor first appeared. At first, people were surprised to hear it. Then they heard it for a whole week. After a year, people heard it so often that they stopped caring and stopped paying attention."

Shi Jinzhe: "Do you know anything more about missing persons?"

"No, I don't live there, and I don't like going to Dota."

"Then tell me something else you know."

"But the car..." The driver hesitated, chatting with them as he drove. These two men really had a lot of confidence in his driving skills.

"Just drive, don't worry about it."

Schech went to the windshield, placed his palm on the glass, and covered it with his hand.

Centered on her, the toxic gas rays in the air swirled and formed several small vortexes, rapidly absorbing more harmful substances from the surrounding area.

The creation of industrial weapons is a calamity, and the past is a sin. Aren't the industrial weapons created by mankind also a disaster for mankind itself?

Besides unleashing endless despair and death, calamity can also assimilate these substances defined as disasters, giving them complete control.

The sudden change in the external environment caused the relentless radiation monsters to show signs of discomfort, collapsing and falling unconscious one after another.

With the monster no longer blocking the way, the road ahead was cleared, and the car's speed increased again.

After the driver drove a considerable distance, the small vortex in the air stopped spinning, the radioactive material needed by the monster was returned, and it woke up looking bewildered.

On the road ahead, these small vortices spun out of the air around the car.

The driver, mustering his courage, asked, "Are they dead...?"

Shekh: "He's fainted."

According to Shi Jinzhe, the radiation monsters that besieged Dota City were tracking algae, which is different from the monsters that attacked them to kill them. They are all products of evolution and are just on the same path, so let's spare their lives.